Acton Introduces Family Officer Position

ACTON, MA — The Acton police department introduced a new position in August — the family services officer position. The position was created to address the growing needs of the department to respond to domestic violence, mental health and substance use calls, as well as at-risk populations such as the elderly, juvenile, disabled and homeless.

The department appointed Det. Michael Eracleo to the new position.

Det. Eracleo began his career with the Acton Police Department in 2005. He most recently served as a School Resource Officer in the elementary and special education schools. He routinely addressed a variety of issues including school security and incident assistance, truancy, safety instruction, staff requested family assistance and intervention and criminal investigation involving youth. Det. Eracleo has also worked with students at The Victor School and Colebrook High School which offer alternative behavioral programs for students at the high school level.

While with the department, Det. Eracleo has also worked in other specialty positions including as the Domestic Violence liaison, Elder Services liaison, Jail Diversion liaison, Police Assisted Addiction Recovery Initiative (PAARI) liaison, Q.P.R. Suicide Awareness Instructor, Certified Child Crimes Investigator and Central Middlesex Opioid Task Force liaison.

“The new Family Services Detective position is an exciting new way that we are aligning our resources to better support families and address the complex mental health and wellness needs of our community," Town Manager John Mangiaratti said.

Det. Eracleo was awarded the 2016 Exceptional Service Award and the 2017 School Resource Officer of the Year award, both by the Massachusetts Juvenile Police Officer's Association, and was Acton's 2018 Public Safety Officer Employee of the Year.

"Det. Eracleo brings a wealth of experience working in the areas of responsibility of the new Family Services Officer position," Chief Burrows said. "He has worked closely with educators and juveniles as a School Resource Officer, with the Jail Diversion Clinician responding to calls for service involving mental health and substance abuse and with the Domestic Violence Services Network assisting victims. Det. Eracleo is an asset to our department and I am confident he will do excellent work in this new role."