Long-Time Bedford Police Chief Retires

Following 40 years with the Bedford Police Department, Chief David Bailey recently announced his retirement. Earlier this week, he sat down with Patch for a question and answer session.

How'd you get started at the Bedford Police Department?
I grew up here. I've lived here most of my life. I just walked into the station one day 40 years ago and asked for a job one day after graduating from college. I didn't really know what I was going to do, but I guess the rest is history.

What is your fondest memory?
The most memorable day, which was really a good day and a bad day, was when one of our officers got shot and he had to defend himself and take another person's life. A lot of times when that happens, even if everything was done right, sometimes they don't come back because it's really quite a thing to take someone's life. But he handled it well. He was in a crowded parking lot, 10 o'clock on a Monday morning - which goes to show you anything can happen anywhere - and he did everything right. You know, before he fired, he cleared the area and screamed for everyone to get out of the way. Even the person whose life he had to take, he had a female companion and the officer even tried to get her out of the way so she wouldn't get hurt. And then to see how many officers showed up to a call like that, it showed what a brotherhood and sisterhood we have here, that we all pulled together. Everyone dropped everything and came from miles away.

If you could identify one distinguishing mark you've left on the town of Bedford, what would it be?
One of the legacies I hope to leave is I've tried to hire people who are firm, but compassionate. We work for the citizens here and we really look at it as a team effort. I mean, we can't exist without people telling us things, quite frankly. You know, all these television shows and all this scientific stuff, that's not how it gets done. That's rare. Plus they do it in a half hour or hour. The reality is we don't know what's going on unless people call us and tell us, so it's very important we have a good relationship with the town, and a big part of that is having good people. And I think I'm leaving with a bunch of good people in place here.

Was it ever a balancing act living in town and serving as Police Chief?
Actually, not really. Many years ago ... (Town Councilor Paul Roy) worked for me as a captain and we were doing a big push on speeding out on 101, and one of the first people he got was my wife. He called me and I said, "Give her a ticket." So he gave her a ticket and she took it, and that's worked for me over the years. People call me and want to talk about a traffic stop or something, and I'll talk to them about the officer's demeanor, but not about the ticket, and if they get real pushy, I tell them I wouldn't even let my wife out of a ticket.

How has the community changed in your 40 years?
Well, certainly, the population has increased. It's probably doubled in population. It's about 21,000 now. And there were nine full-time members of the department. Now there's 34. And there's a lot more training now. Back then, there wasn't even an academy, so now they're highly trained and we try to keep them highly trained. But back in my day it was, "Here's the keys, now get out there." I've got to tell you, it was a little scary.

What are your retirement plans?
Actually, I don't really have any. I'm going to do a little traveling. I've got kids that live in different parts of the country. I've got to do some things to keep busy, so I may stay on as a part-time officer because I've got a few unfinished things I'd like to do ... but I'll keep my nose out of the business of this place, believe me.

Can you provide an example of the unfinished business you mentioned?
There's a body that's supposedly buried someplace in town, and the daughter of the person that's missing keeps in touch with me, so I'd like to give her closure.