# New State Police head sworn in



## policelaborlaw.com (Mar 7, 2006)

*New State Police head sworn in*
By *Emelie Rutherford*/ Daily News Staff
Thursday, June 15, 2006

*F*RAMINGHAM -- As a young state police trooper, Mark Delaney would let his wife and kids venture ahead of him on walks in the woods so he could practice his dog-handling skills by tracking their paths.
Yesterday, after climbing the ranks of the Masachusetts State Police for 32 years, Delaney was sworn in as the department's new head by Gov. Mitt Romney at the department's Framingham headquarters.
Delaney told law enforcement officials gathered from around New England about other skills he picked up during his career, including improving the handling of evidence at the state's crime lab, which he oversaw in his most recent job in charge of the State Police's Forensic Services Unit.
As the new colonel and superintendent of the state police, Delaney said he will focus on protecting police officers' safety, reducing highway fatalities and fighting terrorism along with local, state and federal officials.
"Terrorism is everyone's responsibility," Delaney said. "It permeates all of our jurisdictions."
Romney lauded the work Delaney has done during his three decades with the state police, from probing murders in Middlesex County to investigating the prison murder of pedophile priest John Geoghan.
"We are going to have our state police led by a truly remarkable man," Romney said before swearing in Delaney in a state police gymnasium on Rte. 9.
Delaney replaced Col. Thomas Robbins, who recently left the post to take over Boston University's police department.
Hopkinton's Gerard Leone, a Democrat running uncontested for Middlesex County district attorney, called Delaney "a real pro." Leone and Delaney worked together for a decade in the Middlesex office and the attorney general's office.
Delaney, a 53-year-old Burlington resident, graduated from the State Police Academy in 1974. For the state police, his jobs included heading the Middlesex County Narcotics Unit, the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Middlesex County district attorney's office and the State Police Detective Unit assigned to the attorney general's office.
Under state law, the governor must pick the superintendent of state police from within the department. Romney interviewed five candidates and named Delaney to the post last month.


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