By Joan F. Simoneau, Community Reporter
Marlborough – After 40 years in law enforcement, most recently in the French Hill neighborhood of Marlborough, Police Officer Tony Evangelous retired at the end of December.
Evangelous joined the Marlborough Police Department in 1974 as a dispatcher, a position that provided an immediate and thorough education of the variety of duties performed by the department.
From that position he became a police officer at Framingham State College, then an auxiliary officer in Hudson, followed by an eight-and-a-half year assignment as a police officer in Hudson, N.H. He spent a year as a sergeant with the UMass Police in Worcester and then back to the Marlborough Police Department where he has been for the past 30 years.
“I became interested in law enforcement through my brother, Ralph, who was a police officer in Marlborough and is now chief of police in Wilmington, N.C.,” he said, “and it has been a wonderful experience.”
Evangelous is most commonly known as the policeman riding his bicycle from the Main Street Police Headquarters, around the French Hill area of the city, to the French Hill Police Headquarters at the corner of Lincoln and Broad streets.
“In 1995 I entered into community policing, basically into problem solving,” Evangelous said. “The French Hill office is a community office where Code Enforcement Officer Pam Wilderman and Jessica Crawford, Jail Diversion Program social worker are also located to help people in that area. Among the many needing assistance are non-English speaking people who need help themselves or for a family member or friend.”
“Through the years I have tried to help drug- and alcohol-addicted people by acquainting them with the Addiction Referral Center (ARC) on Main Street where many have found help. Years ago there was an ARC meeting place here on French Hill and I am hoping we can have one in this area again. It is greatly needed,” he added.
At a surprise retirement party held recently at the Main Street Police station, Police Chief Mark Leonard remarked on the deep commitment to community policing Evangelous has displayed through the years. Mayor Arthur Vigeant called him “Mr. French Hill” when he spoke of the retiring policeman’s total dedication to his job.
Bob Kays, owner of the Prospector Saloon Bar and Grill at 520 Lincoln St., expressed his appreciation for the heightened awareness of problems on French Hill and the continuing help Evangelous has given through the years.
“He helps identify offenders and those needing help and acts on the spot as well as long-term,” he said.
Evangelous said he will keep working to help the community even now that he is retired.
“For the next couple of months I will just take it easy,” he said. “I am sure in the future I will continue to be community involved. I hope to work with the ARC Board of Directors to see that a meeting place on French Hill becomes a reality in the near future.”
He was appointed to the Marlborough Youth Commission by former Mayor Nancy Stevens several years ago which enhanced his interest in helping youth and working with them.
Evangelous said he will also continue to be a guest speaker on Internet safety and how to be safe from identify theft to church and school groups, and the Greater Marlborough Boys’ and Girls’ Club. He and his wife, Fabiana, and family reside in French Hill.
