By Nathan Duke
Staff Writer

New Weare Police Chief Gregory Begin took over as head of the department on Monday, March 21. He said he wants to improve communication between the police department and the town. (Nathan Duke Photo)

During his first week in office, newly elected Weare Police Chief Gregory Begin is ready to begin work on two issues he finds essential to running the department: communication and transportation.

Begin, who just spent his last day as police chief of New Boston on Friday, March 18, and began as chief in Weare the following Monday, said establishing a good relationship with the community and the replacement of three police cruisers are at the top of his list of things to do.

Begin, who has been in law enforcement for 23 years, has worked as New Boston’s police chief since 2000. He will replace former Weare Chief Myles Rigney, who was placed on administrative leave. The position was changed to an elected one at the March 2004 election. Some residents saw Rigney as a controversial figure, causing bad feelings between the department and the town. Rigney is still negotiating with officials about his openended contract.

The new chief hopes to regain the trust of Weare residents through good communication.

“I would like to reopen the lines of communication with the public and the selectmen,” he said. “I’d like to let them know my door is open. We might not always agree, but they will understand, I hope, that we may agree to disagree. But we can always talk face to face and I’ll always listen to them.”

Begin moved to Weare in 2000, which prompted him to want to work closer to home. However, a shorter commute is not the only reason he decided to run for police chief of Weare.

“In order for me to look myself in the mirror the day after the election, I felt I needed to give the people in my town a qualified candidate on election day,” he said.

Begin is certainly not a stranger to the community, despite the fact he is new to the police department.

His daughter, Kaitlin, is a sophomore at John Stark High School and his son, Kristopher, is a seventh-grader at Weare Middle School. The chief helped coach his daughter’s softball team when she was in seventh and eighth grade and he ran the DARE program in the fall of 2002 at Weare Middle School.

Aside from community outreach, Begin also said he will work hard to replace three of the station’s four police cruisers that currently will not pass inspection. All three vehicles have more than 150,000 miles on them.

“I’m in dire need of cruisers,” he said. “It’s the first item on my agenda. I have discussed the option with the board and, hopefully, in two weeks we’ll meet again.”

Begin said he would like to hold a public hearing concerning the replacement of the cruisers.

New Boston and Weare are have some of the same problems despite a difference in size.

“It is obvious this town is larger than New Boston, but their needs and types of crime are similar – just multiplied by two,” he said.

Begin praised the eight full-time and four part-time officers on the Weare police force and said he is looking forward to working with his new team.

“I’m really excited to move forward with this group of guys,” he said. “They are a great team and are very supportive.”

Despite support from department staff and his enthusiasm for his new position, Begin said the transition has been a lot of work. During the week leading up to his final day as the police chief in New Boston, Begin split up most of the days of the week, working five or six hours in New Boston, then showing up at the Weare station.

“I would often stop by (the Weare station) on the way home,” he said. “It was an extremely long week.”

The new chief should have no difficulty selling himself to his new co-workers because he already has.

“He is extremely nice and very easy to talk to,” said receptionist Terri Delamater. “I really, really like him.”

Deputy Chief Bill Quigley also praised the new chief and said Begin was exactly what the station needed to put the department in a positive light with Weare residents.

“Out of all the five candidates in the election, he stood out as the most fully qualified,” he said. “I knew him when he was the chief in New Boston and I worked for the state police. His philosophies and principles really mirror my own. I am looking forward for him taking control of the helm.”