Meet Shannon Buczek, Hampton’s first female police sergeant

HAMPTON — Police officer Shannon Buczek was officially sworn in Thursday as the first woman in the town department’s history to hold the rank of sergeant.

Police Chief Alex Reno wants to make it clear Buczek was chosen because of her skills and performance.

“Sgt. Buczek is a very strong woman,” Reno said. “One who’s established herself as a first-rate officer here. I’ve worked closely with her over the years, she’s incredibly smart, extremely dedicated and very humble. She’s a valuable asset to this department.”

According to Reno, Buczek was one of nine applicants for the sergeant’s position. She was chosen after a process that included a written exam and an interview with a board of command level officers from other law enforcement agencies, to ensure a neutral assessment of all candidates.

“She came in number one in the sergeant’s evaluation process,” Reno said. “She has a wide breadth of knowledge. She’s extended herself to learn all facets of law enforcement. It’s made her very valuable.”

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According to Reno, Buczek holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Worcester State College in Massachusetts. She began her career at the Hampton Police Department in 2013, hired as a part-time officer during the summer. She was sworn in as a full-time patrolman in 2014.

Since then she’s taken on a number of different roles, Reno said.

“She’s been a patrol officer, worked with me as the assistant prosecutor when I was police prosecutor,” Reno said. “And she was a school resource officer for three years at Centre School.”

In 2021, he said, Buczek had her first taste of supervising others when she was promoted to summer corporal, a temporary position instituted each summer as the department experiences increased operations at Hampton Beach.

Buczek, 35, said spending summers at Hampton Beach was not foreign to her. The daughter of David and Michele Feeley, she grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts, but the family spent vacations at Hampton Beach.

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She was first attracted to law enforcement, she said, after spending time listening to stories told by her aunt, Sue Figy, who was a detective with the police department in Westfield, Massachusetts.

Originally planning to enter the military after high school, Buczek said, her father persuaded her to complete college before making a career decision.

While at Worcester State, Buczek took a course in criminal justice after talking to a friend from her soccer team. The subject matter clicked, she said, and she graduated with her degree in 2009.

After college, Buczek worked with teenagers, coaching high school lacrosse and soccer teams and worked with special needs children, before becoming a court officer at Salem Superior Court, in Salem, Massachusetts.

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She signed on to be a part-time Hampton police officer in 2013.

“I went to be a part-time officer in Hampton thinking I’d stay part-time,” Buczek said. “But I realized I absolutely loved Hampton and my job.”

Buczek said she loves everyday police work but also enjoyed her years as an assistant police prosecutor and as a school resource officer, which taught her a lot about the town of Hampton.

“It was when I was a school resource officer that I realized how great Hampton really is,” Buczek said. “In Hampton, people participate in school and town events, they support their town and their Police Department.”

According to Reno, on May 2 Buczek joins the ranks of her fellow Hampton police sergeants Stephen Champey, Joseph Jones, Andrew Jowett, Timothy Hamlen, Vitalijs Sorokins, Christopher Keyser and Matthew Robinson. Her assignment will be patrol sergeant, he said, making her the supervisor of patrolmen on her shift.

That’s just about perfect as far as Buczek is concerned.

“I do love being on patrol,” she said. “The job you’re doing out there is very rewarding.”

Buczek lives in Portsmouth with her husband, Barry, and their son, Teddy.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton NH Police Department swears in first female sergeant