WINCHENDON–The town has begun the new year with a new police chief.

Daniel Wolski, who most recently served as a sergeant in the department, was appointed to the leadership role on Jan. 1. Wolski, 37, has been acting chief since October, following the retirement of David Walsh.

While proud of his new position, Wolski told the Athol Daily News, “my biggest positive achievement is that I’m married and have two kids – a 9-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter.”

Wolski lives in neighboring Royalston, but grew up in Winchendon. His parents, Tony and Nancy, have lived in Winchendon for over 40 years, and his grandparents from both sides of the family are from the area.

“So I’m a Winchendonian, I guess you could say,” he said.

A 2003 graduate of Murdock High School, Wolski attended Mt. Wachusett Community College, before transferring to Franklin Pierce University in Rindge. There, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business management, graduating in 2008. In recent years, he’s earned a master’s degree in criminal justice. It was while at Franklin Pierce that Wolski landed a job as a dispatcher with the Winchendon Police Department.

“At the time, I also started working in Royalston as a part-time police officer,” he explained. “That was as early as 2006. A year later, I was hired as a reserve officer in Templeton. So from 2006 to 2010, I worked for Royalston, Templeton and Winchendon; primarily working as a dispatcher here (Winchendon). I left Templeton and Royalston in 2008 because I was getting enough hours here as a dispatcher, then Winchendon hired me as a reserve officer.”

After a couple of years, Wolski was eventually hired as a full-time officer for the Winchendon Police.

“In the summer of 2010, (Chief) Scott Livingston called me and said, ‘Dan, we have a full-time position. Are you interested in going to the full-time academy?’ So, that started my full-time career in Winchendon,” he said.

Law enforcement runs in Wolski’s family. His brother was an officer in Gardner, while his father had served as an environmental police officer.

“So I had that background,” he said. “It’s certainly something that’s always interested me. I think when my brother became a police officer it certainly had an impact.”

Wolski said that the job of a police officer has quickly evolved and expanded in recent years.

“Police are currently wearing more and more hats,” he explained. “We’re social workers. We’re peacekeepers. The list goes on, counselors, coaches and more. The list goes on, and that’s not a bad thing, but it makes the job more challenging. It requires a lot of aptitude because you have to be able to transition quickly and wear those different hats.”

Wolski said it’s his intention as chief to expand the role of officers beyond simply fighting crime to creating partnerships within the community, in order to tackle a host of issues in the hope of reducing incidents.

“My vision for the police department is to perpetuate the community policing model, so that the police department is working in conjunction with other organizations in the community in a collective effort to deal with the issues that lead to crime and other problems,” he said.

Wolski said his predecessor, Chief Walsh, gave him some good advice as they worked on the transition from one administration to another.

“He’s very people-centric,” said Wolski. “He understood the importance of listening to your people. They’re on the ground and they’re the priority in terms of making sure that they have what they need and are in the position possible to do well. He said there’s a lot of minutiae – the budget and the this and the that – but it’s the people. If you’re going to succeed in this job, it’s going to be with the relationships, both the folks that you’re working with and the people in the community. You have to constantly be fostering good relationships. That was my biggest takeaway from working with him.”

Wolski added that having the support of his family was important in making his decision to accept the job as chief.

“My wife has always been very supportive,” he said. “And this (career) is all my kids have known to this point, and they’ve been supportive. Me becoming chief was a bit of an adjustment for them because my duty is obviously a little different.”

The average age of police chiefs nationwide is 46, making Wolski among the youngest. He will be officially sworn in during a combined meeting of the town’s selectboard and school and finance committees, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 17.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.

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