Wilmington Police Chief Retiring Next Month

WILMINGTON, MA — Police Chief Michael Begonis is retiring on April 5, and apparently for real this time. Begonis had planned to retire in January 2018 but asked to stay on to help the town to address a number of issues, including the opioid crisis that has hit Wilmington and other Massachusetts communities. But on Monday, Begonis told selectmen 31 years was long enough and accepted praise from the members of the board and Town Manager Jeffrey Hull.

"Police chief is obviously a crazy job. You serve many masters you always try to do it with the upmost dignity and respect," Begonis said, who thanked his family while calling the Wilmington Police Department his "other" family.

Hull named Lt. Joseph Desmond, who started with the department in 1988, interim acting chief. Selectmen hope to name a permanent replacement this summer.

Begonis is a Wilmington native who joined the police department as a patrol officer in 1988. He also worked as a detective before being promoted to sergeant in 1998, then to lieutenant in 2001. As a lieutenant, he led the department's investigative and special-services bureau until July 2004, when he was promoted to deputy chief. In 2005, he was named chief.

"The Town of Wilmington is in a really good place with individuals ready to move up the ranks," he said of the department.