The Hanson Police Department serves a population of about 11,000 people in the town of Hanson. The town is located in the south shore area of Massachusetts approximately 30 miles south of Boston. The Hanson Police Department staff includes a Chief of Police, a Lieutenant, 19 full-time police officers, seven part-time police officers, four civilian dispatchers, four part-time dispatchers and an Executive Assistant to the Chief of Police. The Hanson Police Department is a non-civil service police department and was reorganized by Chapter 255 of the Acts and Resolves of 1981 by the General Court.
Community Policing
The Hanson Police Department follows the philosophy and organizational strategy of community policing, which emphasizes the importance of collaboration between law enforcement, government, business and industry, and residents. Community policing challenges the department to enter into partnerships with every segment of the community, and to work together to address factors that impact the quality of life in Hanson.
Community policing emphasizes creative, collaborative solutions to community problems. Utilizing a combination of ongoing community input and crime analysis techniques, the police department and community collectively engage in problem identification, and then develop the most appropriate and effective means of addressing it. Once a new strategy is implemented, the Hanson Police Department uses methods such as informal feedback, citizen surveys, and program evaluation to measure success — re-adjusting strategies as needed to improve outcomes.
All of the programs and specialty units in the Hanson Police Department have been created in response to issues that have been identified in conjunction with the community, and the Hanson Police Department has actively sought federal and state grants for equipment and training to expand these capabilities.
As a community policing department we strive to achieve the highest levels of professionalism and service to the community, and to have a positive impact on the quality of life in Hanson.