Officer Michael Blanchette has been nominated by Captain Randy Haggar and chosen as the 2010 MethuenPolice Department Police Officer of the Year.
Office Michael Blanchette started his affiliation with the Methuen Police Department in the Police Explorer Program, and a member of the Methuen Police Explorer Post 911 in 1979. At age 18, he was sworn as an Auxiliary Police Officer, working in a volunteering position, patrolling the city of Methuen. In 1983 he was sworn as an Intermittent Police Officer working part time until July of 1988 when he began his career with the Police Department as a Police Officer. He has served the department as a Field Training Officer, as well as, within the Traffic and Patrol Divisions, currently serving the department in the capacity as plain clothes detective. Detective Blanchette specialties include Fire/Explosives Investigations, Auto Theft & Insurance Fraud Investigations and Retail/Organized Crime investigations.
In June of 2009, Captain Randy Haggar assigned Officer Michael Blanchette to be a liaison to area retail loss prevention personnel in Methuen. A meeting was held in July of 2009 and as a result, the Merrimack Valley Loss Prevention Network was created with 13 Members with a goal to accumulate and disseminate information of interest to all members via email. Through Detective Blanchette’s dedication and hard work, the network has grown to 117 members throughout Northern MA and Southern, NH. The network is solely maintained by Detective Blanchette. Many crimes, (some violent) have been solved as a direct result of members sharing this information via the network, both on the police side and retail side. Recently, two armed robberies were solved when information shared on this network was utilized to identify the suspects involved. Numerous organized retail crime groups have been identified and captured, one group in particular had stolen in excess of $50,000 worth of goods from 3 chain stores prior to being captured. Largely due to the dedication and hard work of Officer Blanchette, this information sharing network has become one of the major tools available to fight crime in the Merrimack Valley.
Detective Blanchette is an asset to the Methuen Community. Without Officer’s dedication, persistence and hard work, this network would never enjoy the successes it shows today. Detective Blanchette will be honored on November 16, 2010 at the 2010 Exchange Club Police Officer of the Year banquette.