Danvers Promotes New Police Chief, Captain From Within Department

DANVERS, MA — Danvers promoted from within the department for its new police chief and captain as Capt. James Lovell will take over as the new permanent chief and Lt. Ashley Sanborn becomes the newest captain.

The appointments made Tuesday will take effect on July 5.

"I have enjoyed watching Jamie's and Ashley's career development over the past six-and-a-half years and believe that they, along with Captain Phil Tansey, will strive to make an already great department even stronger," Danvers Town Manager Steve Bartha said. "I was particularly impressed by their commitment to community engagement and relationship building, and look forward to working with them in their new roles."

Lovell has been a member of the department for 23 years — having served as a patrolman, sergeant and lieutenant before he was promoted to captain six years ago.

Lovell becomes the permanent replacement for Chief Patrick Ambrose, who died suddenly just days after retiring from the force in January.

Danvers becomes the third North Shore town to name a new police chief in the past month — joining Salem and Marblehead.

Sanborn joined the department 14 years ago, was promoted to sergeant in 2015 and lieutenant four years ago.

The town said it held an assessment center in compliance with the Massachusetts Civil Service hiring procedures in April to come up with a list of qualified candidates for the two positions, and then conducted follow-up interviews in May.

Lovell earned a master's degree from Salem State College and graduated from the MMA/Suffolk Leadership & Management Program.

Sanborn earned her master's degree in criminal justice and a graduate certificate in leadership and policy development from UMass-Lowell. She also graduated from the MMA/Suffolk Leadership & Management Certificate program.

She is currently the lieutenant in charge of the day shift and the department's Accreditation Manager. She previously served as the department's liaison to the Danvers Human Rights and Inclusion Committee.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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