Effective July 15, Town Manager Dori Vecchio has appointed R. Scott Mills as Auburn’s new Police Chief. The Chief has been with the Auburn police since 1997 and, while working in the patrol division, became a member of the CEMLEC SWAT team, a regional tactical unit providing specialized law enforcement services to over 45 participating towns in Central Mass. In this time period he also became a detective.

After being promoted to Sergeant, he supervised patrol shifts, oversaw Communications Dispatchers as well as the Property & Evidence Room, assumed responsibilities for firearms licensing and became involved in grant writing. In 2013, Chief Mills returned to the detective unit and investigated the murder of Officer Ronald Tarentino, Jr. while also serving as the detective division’s supervisor until 2022 when Chief Lemon promoted him to the rank of Provisional Lieutenant, and soon after, a further promotion to Deputy Police Chief.  

Chief Mills stated, “We are going to invest in officer safety and wellness through innovative programs and realistic, high-quality training. We will continue our commitment to overall public safety through proactive traffic enforcement initiatives, enhancing our strong relationships with the schools and young people and we will continue to meet the standards of investigative excellence as we work to prevent and solve crimes.”

Recently, the town has announced that it will be receiving funding for the inaugural Mass Save Municipal Energy Manager Grant program from the Sponsors of Mass Save® to hire an energy manager who will lead efforts to reduce the municipality’s energy use and carbon emissions in municipal buildings. As part of a concerted effort to become more energy efficient, the energy manager will help the town utilize Mass Save programs and incentives for energy efficiency and building decarbonization projects in municipal buildings, with a focus on K-12 schools.

“I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Mass Save for the generous grant that is helping to fund our new Energy Manager position. With the ever-increasing cost of energy, it is essential that we work together to reduce consumption where possible.” said Vecchio, town manager. “This new position will collaborate with both town residents and municipal departments to identify and implement energy-saving opportunities that will benefit our entire community.”  

Auburn is one of 63 municipalities to receive this type of grant funding for its schools. The Mass Save® collaborative includes Berkshire Gas, Cape Light Compact, Eversource, Liberty, National Grid, and Unitil. 

[email protected]