I sit here with three editions of the Hopkinton Annual Report, 2020, 2021 and 2022. I note that comparing the 2021 and 2020 reports for the Hopkinton Police Department, there is but one departure from the department. From 2021 to 2022, I believe there were 11.

What transpired that resulted in 11 members of the Hopkinton Police Department departing?  Nearly 40% of Hopkinton’s Police Department left! (And that’s not counting Titan, our dog!) That 40% is for the entire department. With respect to the base “patrol” members, it is an astounding 70% who left (again, not counting Titan)! These were the core of those who should be the basis of the sergeants, lieutenants and chiefs of Hopkinton’s future.  How many “patrol years” of history left us?

What transpired in 2021 to create this outflow from the Hopkinton Police Department? Why wasn’t there such an outflow from the Hopkinton Police Department in 2006? Certainly, the Entwistle case was equally shocking, if not more so. What can we expect as result of the recent Select Board action, or lack thereof, with respect to the promotions of Greg DeBoer and Matthew Santoro?

“How camest [we] in this pickle?”

— Edwin E Harrow, Hopkinton

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