Bill Taylor Chosen as Lowell Police Superintendent

Bill Taylor, right, at a lower Highlands Neighborhood Group meeting last fall.

On Monday morning, City Manager Bernie Lynch announced he has chosen Acting Deputy Superintendent Bill Taylor as the city’s new Police Superintendent. The position has been held in an interim capacity by Deputy Superintendent Deb Friedl since the March retirement of Superintendent Ken Lavallee.

Taylor, 56, of Dracut, has served on the Lowell Police Department for 31 years.

In announcing Taylor’s appointment, Lynch released the following statement:

I am pleased to announce the selection of Deputy Police Chief William Taylor as the next Lowell Police Superintendent.

My decision comes after careful consideration of the strengths, opportunities and needs of the Lowell Police Department as it serves the City’s residents, businesses and visitors. My process has been deliberate as I have reviewed the department from the inside and outside, looking at information regarding personnel, equipment, procedures and philosophy.

I also sought and gained valuable input from uniformed members of the department, ordinary citizens, neighborhood leaders, business people, non-profit partners, representatives from the city’s institutions, city youth, representatives of Lowell’s diverse ethnic groups and a number of criminal justice/law enforcement professionals.

With all of the gathered information I interviewed and considered a number of exceptional internal and external candidates that had expressed interest in serving as Lowell Police Superintendent in order to determine the best individual to serve in this highly visible and significant position in Lowell’s city government. In the end, my decision was clear in appointing William Taylor.

Deputy Taylor is a committed 31 year member of the Lowell Police Department. He has a well-balanced career within the department having served on the front line of the operations of the department as a patrol officer, detective, and superior officer. He has also been a key participant in the administration of the department through its Support Services Bureau where he was involved in aspects of budgeting, resource allocation, personnel, technology and equipment. Deputy Taylor has been one of the Department’s leaders in Lowell’s community policing initiatives going back into the early 1990’s, and he has also been at the forefront of Lowell’s new leadership in the area of “Smart Policing” based upon the use of evidence based data for the deployment of resources and creation of law enforcement strategies.

Deputy Taylor brings leadership, knowledge, intelligence, professionalism, ethics and commitment to this position of Lowell Police Superintendent. I believe he will use all of these traits along with the lessons that he has learned through life to be an exceptional Police Superintendent for the City.

I would be remiss if I did not thank everyone within the Police Department who has kept the department moving forward over the last several months while this decision was reached. It has not been an easy time as the Department has grappled with several high profile internal issues, and the City has experienced a spike in certain criminal activity that has been widely publicized. In particular I wish to commend and thank Interim

Superintendent Deborah Friedl for her committed service during this time. The Interim Superintendent has provided calm and steady leadership under very difficult circumstances. We are very fortunate to have such an outstanding individual within our Police Department.