After more than three decades with the department, Wareham’s Chief of Police John Walcek will retire on April 17. 

Walcek announced his upcoming retirement from the department on Thursday, March 4. Walcek was sworn in as chief of police in February 2020. Before that, he served as acting chief for nearly two years.

A department press release said Walcek will “actively serve” as chief of the department until April 17, and noted that “leadership changes will be announced in the upcoming weeks.”

Walcek said he considers his time serving Wareham’s residents an “honor and privilege.”

“I am as proud to be a Wareham police officer today as I was the first day I walked a beat on Main Street the 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. shift, May 31, 1987,” he said. “Wareham is blessed to have a police force made up of dedicated professionals, supported by the Town Administrator as well as the Board of Selectmen.”

Walcek has a long history of public service, as detailed in the press release:

In 1984, while still in high school, Walcek first worked for the town at the West Wareham station as a call firefighter and at the Municipal Maintenance Department.

Walcek was first hired by the Wareham Police Department as a summer special officer in 1987 when he was 20 years old. While attending Bridgewater State College, he worked for both the Wareham and Rochester police departments. 

In 1989, Walcek was hired as a full-time Wareham police officer. He was later promoted to sergeant in 2003, lieutenant in 2010, acting chief in 2018 and chief in 2020. Until 1997, he served as a call firefighter as well.

Correction: A typo in this story has been corrected to reflect that Walcek was promoted to lieutenant in 2010.