Chief Stark announced his retirement plans at the January 27 Select Board meeting. His end date was May 31st. Chief Stark appeared above in his retirement uniform.
On April 7, the Selectmen went into non-public session, reviewed the candidates who had applied for the Police Chief position, and voted to appoint Lieutenant Beth Tower as the new Chief of Police (shown above). Ms. Tower joined the department on a rainy day in 2008 and was promoted to Lieutenant on a sunny day in 2019.
When asked about a retirement party, Lt. Tower explained that, “As much as the department would have loved to give Chief Stark a nice celebration of his time in Allenstown, he respectfully requested that there be no party of any kind. He is a private guy, and he just wanted to slip off into retirement without any fanfare.”
When asked about his decision to retire, Chief Stark explained, “I always hoped to retire while I still enjoyed the job and things were going well, so, while I will miss the department, I think this the right time.”
In 2007, he was hired as a Police Sergeant, was then promoted to Lieutenant in 2013, and promoted to Chief of Police in 2019. In January 2018, at the request of the Selectmen, he accepted the position the Interim Town Administrator. He efficiently performed those duties until Derik Goodine was hired in May 2018.
As Police Chief, he was responsible for eleven sworn officers and three civilian members. Accomplishments included establishing a PD drone program, providing the officers with a better work environment, developing grant funding sources, managing the PD budget, writing and implementing PD policies and procedures, and managing IT, facility, and vehicle needs.
Since 2021, Chief Stark has taught a Criminal Investigations Course at Nashua Community College. He plans to continue teaching that course. He will also continue to serve as Director of the Allenstown Office of Emergency Management.
Chief Stark recollected that “I have always enjoyed seeing the whole community at the Open Houses – even people we have arrested. It showed me that the officers were doing a good job of policing the town and keeping people’s dignity while they did it.”
Lieutenant Beth Tower offered these words of praise.
“Chief Stark has been a tremendous asset and mentor at APD. He helped foster the development and success of the Allenstown PD in so many ways and we can’t thank him enough for all that he has done to make APD such a great place to serve the community. As Chief, his family-first attitude truly emphasized how much he cared about his officers, their families, and the overall well-being of his department. Chief Stark will be greatly missed!”
The town has been served well by Police Chief Michael Stark’s years of dedicated service upholding the values of service, integrity, respect, and professionalism. We wish him well as he starts a new chapter of his life.
