NORTHBOROUGH – Twenty-three years ago, Brian Griffin was driving down Rt. 20 when Northborough Police Chief Kenneth Hutchins called and said that he was going to hire him at the department.
“Besides marrying my wife and having my kids, that was one of the best days of my life – receiving that phone call,” Griffin recalled during the Dec. 4 Select Board meeting.
After over two decades serving with the department, Griffin will officially become the next police chief following the retirement of Chief William Lyver at the end of the year.
Griffin was born and raised in Northborough and graduated from Algonquin Regional High School.
After graduating from Assumption University, Griffin worked for a year at Melican Middle School as an instructional aide before joining the Northborough Police Department in 2000.
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In an interview with the Community Advocate, Griffin said he was interested in becoming an officer when he was a child watching police shows and playing games like cops and robbers.
“I was always the cop,” he said.
Influence from his family also played a role – his brother is a detective sergeant in the Northborough department, and his brother-in-law retired from Boston police. Another brother-in-law serves in the New York Police Department, and his nephew is a state trooper.
“I think the running in the genes a little bit, family influence definitely when I was in college steered me toward it a little bit. I always enjoyed giving back, even when I was in high school and college, being involved in the community … I just always enjoyed helping people,” he recalled.
In the department, he’s worked as a patrol officer, detective, the sergeant detective and most recently as a lieutenant.
Griffin was interviewed and appointed by the Select Board during their Dec. 4 meeting.
When he takes over on Jan. 1, Griffin said it’ll be the same as Dec. 31 – except he’ll be wearing a different hat.
While there may be some things he may need to learn, Griffin said the transition will be easy, and he knows the people and the Northborough community.
“I think what makes it easy to wear the different hat is again having strong leaders in the past who have shown you the way; having the best police officers, dispatchers and administrative assistant. They are the best. We hire smart individuals. We hire good people who have good values, and that will make my job as chief a lot easier,” said Griffin.
