North Hampton hires Massachusetts State Police lieutenant as new police chief
NORTH HAMPTON — A Massachusetts State Police lieutenant will be North Hampton’s new police chief.
Robert LaBarge Jr., 55, will retire on Friday from the Massachusetts State Police, where he has served in various capacities since 1996. He will take over as North Hampton police chief on Aug. 7.
“I’m coming back home,” said LaBarge, who began his law enforcement career at the New Hampton Police Department in New Hampshire. “I love police work. I’ve honestly never had a bad day.”
LaBarge earned his bachelor of science degree from Plymouth State College and a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Western New England College. He also graduated from the New Hampshire and Massachusetts police academies.
He retires as a lieutenant with the Massachusetts State Police, most recently the unit commander with the Behavioral and Suspicious Activity Recognition Unit, overseeing a 90-person team.
“I am honored and thrilled to be entrusted with this amazing opportunity,” LaBarge said of being chosen as North Hampton’s new police chief. “I look forward to getting to know the community and the dedicated women and men of the North Hampton Police Department.”
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LaBarge said his career started working for “a great chief,” when he served in New Hampton, and when that man went to the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, LaBarge followed. When an opportunity came to join the state troopers in Massachusetts, he took it.
During his career with the Massachusetts State Police, LaBarge served in several leadership roles, including as a shift commander for Troop A and Troop H. He also supervised, led, and coordinated numerous homicide and major case investigations from 2001-2019 while assigned to the office of the Essex County District Attorney, headquartered in Salem, Massachusetts.
“I love the Massachusetts State Police, and I’ve made a lot of great friends there,” he said. “I have 30 years of law enforcement experience. I’ve had a great career every step of the way, and hope to continue it in North Hampton.”
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LaBarge said he understands what the community has experienced lately, with the untimely retirement of its former police chief in March, and the subsequent resignation of the majority of its officers. He said when police organizations go through difficult times, as has the Massachusetts State Police recently, it can often lead to positive results.
“We’ve gone through some very hard times at the Massachusetts State Police recently,” he said, “but now it’s much better.”
LaBarge said he is hoping to reach out to the community and to create an atmosphere at the North Hampton Police Department in which officers want to come to work, and where “everyone is valued, everyone is listened to, and everyone has a seat at the table.”
“We’re going to move forward and look to the future,” LaBarge said. “I want it to be a fun place to work. When officers like coming to work, when officers are happy at work, it’s better for the community.”
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According to North Hampton Town Administrator Michael Tully, LaBarge was one of more than 30 applicants for the chief's position. Tully said LaBarge has a proven record of strategic management, commitment to community engagement, and personnel development, and has “utilized new law enforcement technology to meet the complex challenges of modern policing in communities like North Hampton.”
“Chief LaBarge's public engagement background and experience in implementing complex operational solutions, coupled with his strong aptitude in building lasting relationships, will advance our Police Department and position our community well into the future," according to Tully. "I'm confident that Bob will assimilate well into our community and the Police Department organization."
LaBarge is also a veteran of the Army Reserves out of Londonderry’s military police unit. He served from 1989 to 1997, including deployments to Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield and Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991.
Married and the father of two, LaBarge and his family live in Massachusetts, but the goal is to move back to the Granite State, he said.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Massachusetts State Police veteran to lead North Hampton Police Department
