Melrose Officer Hangs It Up After 37 Years

MELROSE, MA — The man who caught the pig. The man under the hat. The man who put in nearly four decades in the department. The man who is finally calling it a career.

Officer William O'Donnell served his last day in the Melrose Police Department on Feb. 28. He had been with the department since 1981 - for a long while serving the southwest section of the city - and even being the field training officer for Chief Michael Lyle when Lyle started in 1986.

"He instilled many values in me that I still carry today," Lyle said. "Bill’s presence in the department and around the city will be greatly missed, but we all wish him well in this next chapter of his life."

O'Donnell is known as a major animal lover, issuing dog biscuits across the city. When a pig got loose from a pen last spring and was running loose on Main Street, it was O'Donnell who caught it. He was also known for always wearing his hat - even when driving in the cruiser.

"Bill was so proud of catching that little piglet," Lyle said. "His love for animals always shined through whatever he was doing."

O'Donnell enlisted in the Marine Corps at 18. He served two years of active duty, including a deployment to Vietnams, and received an honorable discharge in 1973. He would then join the Marine Corps Reserve, retiring in 1999 at the rank of First Sgt.

O'Donnell started in law enforcement in 1973, when he was an officer at the Suffolk County Jail. He was a federal police officer from 1979-1981 with the U.S. Federal Protective Services in Boston, working at Cuban refugee centers during President Carter's administration and being involved in the air traffic controller's strike under President Reagan.

O'Donnell received a bachelor's degree in policing from Northeastern and a master's degree in criminal justice from Western New England.

Photo by Melrose Police