Chief Otto Rhode, Jr.

Howard "Buster" Spaulding

Henry H. Wheeler

Clifford H. Wheeler

2002-Present

1992-2002

1965-1992

1951-1965

Benjamin H. 
Spaulding Sr.

 Clyde Rogers

Roland Wheeler

Walter Cole

1949-1950

1934-1948

1933-1934

1908-1933

Berlin Police Department History 

In the year 1784, two Constables were elected at the District Meeting. One Constable was also a collector of ministerial taxes until 1821, when the collection of taxes was vested in the office of Treasurer.  In 1797 a Pound Keeper was elected "to build a Pound and Provide Stocks".  The pound was built of stone, located on Woodward Avenue, opposite the Meetinghouse and the stocks were set up near the Meetinghouse with the accompanying whipping post.  A new Pound was built in 1833 on Carter Street across from the current Library and later, a small brick building was built in the Town Pound in 1877, to be used especially for the accommodation of tramps.  Isaac Holbrook, one of the last of the Pound Keepers, submitted a bill in 1900 of $69.00 for caring for 460 tramps.  Other jobs filled by police officers in past years were Dog Officer and Truancy Officer later changed to Attendance Officer. 

The First Police Officer

A Police Officer, as distinct from the Constable, originated in 1880 when the Selectmen appointed one policeman "with all the powers of a Constable, except serving civil processes."   Prior to1922 the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, served as Chief of Police, but also in the year of 1922 the Selectmen, following the requirement of the law, appointed a official Chief of Police.  This action by the Selectmen created the fertile soil to lay the new seeds for the town to have it's first budding Police Department. 

The Police Department is formed

The organization of a Police Department of Berlin occurred in 1934 under the direction of the newly appointed Chief Clyde Rogers. The officers of the department were entitled to join the Central Massachusetts Police Association, and take the twelve weeks schooling on police efficiency and interpretation of the law.  There was also a special course offered to Police Chiefs for the analysis of the new laws enacted by the General Court.  This specialized Police training was provided to train policemen to become qualified to perform more efficient service.   

The First Modernization

In 1948 a two-way radio was installed in the police car for the convenience of the Chief.  In 1950 the Chief of Police possessed a new, fully equipped service car suitable for patrol and ambulance accommodations.  The Police Chief's office was created in 1951 in the Town Hall of Berlin in the small former Welfare Office and was expanded in 1972 to the coat room in the front of the town hall, a space which had been partitioned off in 1904 to house the Public Library, increasing the Police Department to three rooms.  

New Police Station

On June 15, 2000, the Police Department and Town Offices were moved from the Town Hall to the beautiful, newly renovated former Berlin Memorial School building at 23 Linden Street.   The Berlin Police Department now has a facility that serves as a jail as well as a Police Station with all of the latest security features.