Police Department

Mission Statement 

The mission of the Merrimack College Department of Police Services is to provide comprehensive law enforcement services that enhance the educational mission of the college. We are committed to the protection of life and property, the prevention and detection of crime, the enrichment of the quality of life and an unwavering commitment to “Excellence in Service through Community Policing” for all members of the campus community, their guests and visitors.

Values

We emphasize integrity, honesty, impartiality and professionalism from our members in order to create an environment that values differences and fosters fairness and flexibility in our mission. We encourage community input and interaction that will assist us in developing sound partnerships between community and the police. Working together, we can protect our future and enhance the quality of life for everyone within the college community.

Department Information  

    
Emergency: 978.837.5911 (or 5911 internally)
Business: 978.837.5555 (or 5555 internally)

Anonymous Tip Line: 978-837-5777 (or 5777 internally)

TTY for Hearing Impaired

The Merrimack College Police Department does not have TTY (text telephone) capabilities. If you need to contact us and you are deaf, hard of hearing, late deafened, or speech disabled you may access MassRelay 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year where a Relay Operator (OPR) will complete your call, dialing the party you wish to contact. The OPR will then stay on the line to relay messages electronically via a TTY or verbally to people who can hear. All relay calls are confidential.

MassRelay Numbers

• Universal Access 711

• TTY 1-800-439-2370

Voice/Speech to Speech Relay (STS) 1-800-439-0183

For instructions on the use of these services please use this link below:

MassRelay Numbers and Instructions

 

RAVE ALERT

All Merrimack College Students, Faculty and Staff are strongly encouraged to sign up for RAVE ALERT by clicking here or the link on the menu to the left to enable Police Services to contact you in case of a campus wide emergency.

RAVE GUARDIAN

Download the Rave Guardian app for your smartphone (free from the Apple app store). You will need a merrimack.edu email address to download the full app, but family and friends can download a limited version that allows them some functionality.

 

Meet the Department

• All sworn officers at the MCPD have completed Active Shooter training with N.E.M.L.E.C. (North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council).
• All sworn officers are required to maintain a Class A Large Capacity License to Carry a Firearm in Massachusetts, and to qualify with their duty firearm on the range to standards set by the Municipal Police Training Committee. 

All sworn officers are required to train in the following:

1. Use of Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) and Baton biennially.
2. CPR/First Responder/AED annually on a three year rotation that encompasses all parts of the training).
3. Department’s Use of Force and Defense of Human Life policies annually.

 

COMMAND STAFF

 

Michael DelGreco 

 Chief 

Chief DelGreco is a graduate of the Massachusetts Police Leadership Institute, a certified Sexual Assault Investigator and R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) Instructor.

He is a graduate of the New Hampshire 25th Police Academy.

Chief DelGreco is also serving in his thirteenth year as a sworn part-time officer with the Hampton, N.H. Police Department where he works approximately 24 hours a week. He is required to qualify with his department issued sidearm (Glock22) twice a year and with the department issued AR-15 cruiser rifle. The Hampton, N.H. Police Department also has a voluntary night shoot which Chief DelGreco has completed.

Chief DelGreco is licensed to carry firearms in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He is Merrimack College Police Department’s Armorer and Firearms Instructor.

Dennis Peterson

Deputy Chief

Deputy Chief Peterson retired from Tewksbury Police Department with 32 years of service where he served as Chief of Detectives, overseeing all criminal investigations from homicide to larceny.

He was a member of NEMLEC Regional Tactical Unit and Special Operations Unit.

Lieutenant Peterson also worked with the Secret Service during the Democratic National Convention in Boston with covert Counter Terrorism Task Force.

He recently retired as a Tewksbury School Committee member, a position he had held since 2001 and he has been a Basketball Official IABBO since 1995. Dennis is on the Board of Directors of the Tewksbury Boys Basketball League.

Deputy Chief Peterson holds a License to Carry a Firearm in Massachusetts.

Thomas J. Murphy

Major, Administrative Services

Major Murphy oversees all department training, including Massachusetts State Police On-Line training, ensures that all officers fulfill and maintain their certification requirements with the Massachusetts State Police Certification Unit, and ensures that all officers maintain annual certification in OC Spray, Baton, and Use of Force, and First Responder/AED. He also works closely with the Accreditation Manager.

Major Murphy is certified by the Massachusetts Training Council as a Background Investigator and is responsible for the hiring of all dispatchers and officers.

Major Murphy served thirty two years with the Lawrence, Massachusetts Police Department and during that time he served as the Police Arson Investigator and Auto Theft and Insurance Fraud Investigator. He attended the National Fire Academy in Emmetsburg, MD for arson investigations and is a graduate of the National FBI Academy in Quantico, Va.

Major Murphy was awarded the “Man of the Decade Award” by the Eagle-Tribune in 1990 and the “Police Officer of the Year” by the Lawrence Exchange Club 2005.

He currently maintains his license to carry firearms in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Major Murphy has Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice from Western New England College.

Jan Fuller

Lieutenant, Accreditation Manager

Lieutenant Fuller is the department’s Accreditation Manager responsible for maintaining standards in compliance with those set by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission.

She has been in campus law enforcement since 1992 when she graduated from the full-time Special State Police Officer Academy.

Lieutenant Fuller has a Diploma in Physical Education from Dunfermline College of Physical Education in Edinburgh, Scotland and taught high school for six years after graduating. She is presently pursuing a degree in Liberal Arts at Merrimack, majoring in Communications.

She is a certified Sexual Assault Investigator.

Lieutenant Fuller has previous experience as a Detective, investigating sensitive crimes, Court Prosecutor arraigning cases in District Court, and as an educator on violent crimes.

Lieutenant Fuller holds a  License to Carry a Firearm in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

SUPERVISORS

 

Dave Cook

On Call Lieutenant

Lieutenant David J. Cook serves as an on-call Lieutenant with the Merrimack College Police Department. Lt. Cook received his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from North Shore Community College in 1990 and graduated from a Basic Intermittent Police Academy in 1999. Lieutenant Cook also has also attended the Massachusetts Police Leadership Institute. He is certified as a Rape Aggression Defense Instructor.

Dave also serves as a Lieutenant, second in command, at North Shore Community College Police Department. He holds a License to Carry a Firearm in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.     

 Tanya Merten

Sergeant, Day Shift

Sergeant Merten has been a sworn member of law enforcement since 1995. She began her career working for the Wilmington Police Department as an auxiliary Police Officer. She graduated from the Northeast Regional Police Institute in December 1995.

Sergeant Merten began her career at Merrimack College Police in 2002 when she became on on-call officer, while maintaining her status with Wilmington police Department. In 2004, she became a permanent part-time officer until she was hired full-time in 2005. 

She holds a black belt in several martial arts and is also an Assistant Instructor.

Sergeant Merten is certified by C.O.B.W.E.B. (Cops on Bikes with Education for Bicyclists) as a Bike Patrol Officer and is the department’s primary bike patrol officer. She is also one of the department’s R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) instructors and a Field Training Officer. 

Sergeant Merten holds a License to Carry a Firearm in Massachusetts.

Sean Furlong

Sergeant, On-Call

Sergeant Furlong was hired as an on-call Police Officer at Merrimack in October of 2002. In October of 2008, he was promoted to on-call Sergeant.

He is currently employed full-time with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Trial Court as a Court Officer, currently assigned to the Salem District Court. Sergeant Furlong is also a reserve officer with the Nahant Police Department.

Sergeant Furlong completed the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council’s reserve police Academy in 1999 and, when hired at Merrimack, was sworn in as a Special State Police Officer. 

He has been working in the criminal justice field for almost 20 years with various positions within numerous law enforcement agencies, including Revere Police Department, The Essex County Sheriff’s Department, North Shore Community College Campus Police Department, The Massachusetts Environmental Police and the Massachusetts State Police.

He holds a License to Carry a Firearm in Massachusetts.

 Elaine M. Gill

Detective Lieutenant 

Elaine M. Gill is  the Detective Lieutenant with the Merrimack College Police Department. She retired in 2009 as a Detective Lieutenant, Commander of the State Police Detective Unit in the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. She retired with 27 years of service and qualified annually with her department issued firearm. She is an adjunct professor at Northern Essex Community College and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. She attained her Masters in Criminal Justice from Western New England College and her undergraduate degree from Northeastern University.  She lectures around the Commonwealth in Sexual Assault Investigations, Child Abuse Investigations, Victim Dynamics, Crime Scene Investigation, Interview and Interrogations, Search Warrant and Legal Issues for the Massachusetts Association of Women in Law Enforcement. She also lectures new recruits at both the Massachusetts State Police Academy and for the Massachusetts Police Training Committee. She maintains her License to Carry Firearms in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

PATROL 

Sarah Vincent-Furlong

Patrol, Night Shift

Officer Vincent-Furlong is currently a Full-Time sworn officer with the Merrimack College Police Department. She began her law enforcement career while still attending college in 2000, when she became employed at the Lawrence Police Department as an on-call matron. In 2001, she performed her Criminal Justice internship at the Haverhill Police Department. In early 2002, she was hired by Merrimack College as an On-Call Campus Police Officer. While working On Call at Merrimack, she attended the Massachusetts Basic Reserve and Intermittent Academy in Reading during the fall of 2002 and was sworn in as a Special State Police Officer in 2003. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed as a Full-Time Officer.

In 2007, Officer Vincent-Furlong was appointed as a Reserve Police Officer for the Nahant Police Department.  

Officer Furlong holds a License to Carry a Firearm in Massachusetts.

Officer Brian Santarlasci 

Patrol, Cover Shift

Officer Brian Santarlasci is a full-time Police Officer with the Merrimack College Police Department. Officer Santarlasci currently works the Cover Shift 6:00 pm - 2:30 am. He started as an on-call Officer in 2009 working Friday and Saturday 10:00 pm - 4:00 am shifts during the Academic year.

Officer Santarlasci graduated from the Boylston Regional Police Academy December 19, 2009. Upon graduation Brian became a Certified Massachusetts Police Officer. Officer Santarlasci has an A.S.
degree in Criminal Justice from Middlesex Community College, graduating in May of 1993.

 

 Sean Peterson

On Call Officer

Officer Peterson currently serves Merrimack College as the midnight shift supervisor. He commenced his law enforcement career in 2006 as a Reserve Correctional Officer with the Essex County Sheriff’s Department and subsequently joined Merrimack College Police Services as a Full Time Dispatcher in February of 2007. Sergeant Peterson transitioned his role from Dispatcher to Patrol Officer and later to the position of Sergeant in 2007. He received his basic police officer training at the Reading Intermittent Police Academy. Furthermore, Sergeant Peterson is a certified Field Training Officer and has received Supervisor training at the Massachusetts State Police Academy. He holds a License to Carry a Firearm in Massachusetts.

Sergeant Peterson comes from a law enforcement family as his father served as a police officer in Lawrence and Andover, MA for 25 years. Sergeant Peterson currently holds a BS in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology. He returned to study as a Graduate student and graduated with Honors on May 18, 2014.

 

CAMPUS SAFETY OFFICER

 

 Kelly Anderson

Campus Safety Officer Anderson is currently a Full- time Officer with the Merrimack College Department of Police Services. She began her career with Merrimack College in 1988 and graduated from the Special State Police Academy in 1990. In September of 2005 Kelly changed her status from Full-time Police Officer to Full- time Campus Safety Officer in charge of Traffic and Parking. Kelly is licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to carry firearms.  

 DISPATCHERS

 

Dispatch Supervisor Elaine Jones

 

 

 Dispatcher Jay Leccese