Chatham Has A New Police Chief: 20-year Veteran Malzone Named To Top Job

CHATHAM – Deputy Police Chief Louis Malzone, a 20-year veteran of the department, will take over as chief later this month.

 Town Manager Jill Goldsmith announced Malzone’s appointment to the position last week. He’ll assume leadership of the department upon the retirement of Chief Michael Anderson on July 22.

 “I’m confident Lou is well prepared to lead the Chatham Police Department,” Goldsmith told the select board June 30. 

 Malzone said it “feels like yesterday” that he was the new officer in town.

 “This is an opportunity I take very seriously,” he said.

 In a later interview, Malzone, a resident of Yarmouth, said he was “ready to go” after serving in almost all of the department’s roles since he joined the Chatham Police in 2006. He said he was inheriting a well-functioning department and had no plans to make any significant changes.

 “There’s strong support from the Chatham community,” he said. “I have a great sense of duty to protect those relationships.” He added that he has a “passion for policing and a passion to make sure it’s done well.”

 “I just want to do a good job,” he said. “I’m committed to the community and the department.”

 Originally from Avon, Malzone summered on the Cape for most of his life. He said he thought about police work on and off, and when it came time to choose a major at Salve Regina University, he decided on criminal justice.

 “I thought it would be a good career path for me,” he said. He went on to receive a master’s degree in criminal justice from Curry College and graduated from the Massachusetts Police Training Academy in 2006.

 At the time, there was a lot of competition for police jobs. Malzone said he ended up getting in touch with then-Chatham Chief Mark Pawlina, who “gave me an opportunity, and here I am.”

 After working as a patrol officer, he was appointed as detective in 2009, a role he said he enjoyed, and was promoted to sergeant in 2019. He stepped into the deputy position when Anderson was named chief in 2022.

 During his time in the department, Malzone underwent training and obtained certification in SWAT team leader development, hostage rescue and high-risk warrant operations, public safety media relations, community crisis intervention and FBI statement analysis. He graduated from the Senior Management Institute for Police in 2024 and is a member of the Police Executive Research Forum and FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association. He also served as firearms instructor, court prosecutor and internal affairs officer in the department, a police academy instructor and a member of the Cape Cod Regional Detective Group and regional SWAT team.

 “The town has supported me in everything I’ve undertaken to do in this career,” said Malzone, 50. “The town has been very good to me.”

 The department, which currently has 21 active members, has had an emphasis on training which Malzone said he intends to continue. Chatham has a very low crime rate, which he attributes, at least in part, to the overwhelmingly positive, personal interactions between officers and residents.

 “We’re out in the community as part of the community,” he said, adding that patrols are the “backbone” of small-town policing. “You have to recognize the work they’re doing.”

 The department has lost a number of veteran members through retirements in recent years, and recruiting new officers today has become more difficult than when he joined the department, Malzone said. Today’s Chatham Police Department is younger, and with Anderson’s retirement and his promotion, there will be senior positions to fill over the next few months which will likely create openings in the ranks as well.

 “It’s an exciting time to be in the department,” he said, adding that it takes a certain sort of individual to be a successful police officer.

 “This is more than a job,” he said. “Policing is a lifestyle. You’re a professional 24/7.”

 The select board approved a three-year contract with Malzone last week, with a starting salary of $187,489.87.