Chief Alan R. DeNaro and Mayor James J. Fiorentini Monday celebrated the 15-year career of Haverhill Police Officer James Keenan by promoting him to the rank of sergeant at a City Hall ceremony attended by Keenan’s family, colleagues and department command staff.
City Clerk Linda L. Koutoulas administered the oath of office to Keenan before he was pinned by his wife as his three daughters and parents looked on.
DeNaro was among those to praise Keenan for his accomplishment, offering words of advice as he enters his new role within the department.
“Keep in mind that we’re here to serve the public and we want to serve them like we’d serve our families, so if you stay in that frame of mind, things are going to go really well for you,” DeNaro said.
Keenan, who currently serves as the president of the Haverhill Police Relief Association, is anxious to jump right into his new position. “I’d like to thank Chief DeNaro and look forward to serving the department and the city in a new capacity,” Keenan told WHAV after his swearing in.
During Monday’s ceremony, Fiorentini took a moment to congratulate DeNaro and the department as a whole for their recent efforts to mitigate crime in the City of Haverhill.
The city’s top leader recalled a recent email he received from a resident in Haverhill’s Acre neighborhood, who praised the department. “That neighbor said a while ago that he was ready to move out of the city and I got another email from him when I got back from vacation (a few days ago) that said things were so much better now: The gang violence has gone way down and there haven’t been any gunshots,” said Fiorentini. “He wanted to congratulate the Haverhill Police Department and I do, too.”