Police Chief Bob Danio retires after 39 years of service

Date: 5/26/2009

By Courtney Llewellyn

Reminder Assistant Editor



LONGMEADOW What does a police chief do the day after he retires?

"I'll probably sit down and let it sink in," Chief Robert Danio of the Longmeadow Police Department said.

Danio, who joined the department in 1970, has lived in town for 37 years. He grew up in Springfield, bought his first home in West Springfield and moved to Longmeadow so he could take a job with the police department.

He said that he originally applied for a job with the police department because he had a lot of friends in town and had gotten to know a lot of officers on the job.

Danio was hired as a patrolman and said he started cold turkey, wearing secondhand uniforms. "That was an education itself," he stated.

A few years after being hired, he was assigned to the detective bureau, and he said that opened a lot of doors for him. That assignment eventually led to his promotion to sergeant, then to captain. Danio was the first captain in the Longmeadow Police Department after the force was reorganized. He said he was "quite honored" by that promotion.

Danio explained that in 2003, then-Chief Richard Marchese was looking at the possibility of retiring, and since Danio covered the chief's duties while he was away, he thought he'd take the chance to take over the chief's position when he did retire in 2004.

Marchese had nominated Danio as the police officer of the year in 1998, to be honored by the Western Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, and Danio said he was "humbled, but it was a great, great thing" to win the award.

"The job itself kept me with [the department] all these years," Danio told Reminder Publications. "A lot of young folks come on with hopes of making it a career. This has been nothing but a great community to work in. I couldn't have asked for a better line of work.

"Every day was a new experience," he continued. "I saved some lives. I investigated everything from murders to burglaries. I can't hone in on one thing that is the memorable moment."

Danio turned 65 last year, the normal retirement age for a police officer, but he had been asked by town officials if he would consider staying on another two or three years.

"It was one of those moments when I thought I must have done something right," he joked.

At the Special Town Meeting in November 2007, residents voted to petition the Legislature to extend Danio's contract until May 31, 2009. His contract was supposed to expire in March 2008.

"Chief Danio has done a remarkable job and has shown true leadership as the Chief of Police in Longmeadow. I am very proud to have worked with him while on the Select Board for the past eight years and especially proud to have selected him as the successor to Chief Marchese," State Rep. Brian Ashe stated. "We are extremely lucky to have such qualified homegrown leadership here in Longmeadow. Longmeadow is a beautiful, safe community because of the great work that our police force does on a daily basis. Chief Danio now leaves the force to his successor, Bob Siano, and we are a better community by having him for so long."

Danio said the past 39 years on the Longmeadow Police Department have been a memorable experience. "I'll miss the department - I have a lot of friends here," he said. "I'm going to miss the daily operations and the guys that work here."

He added that he would recommend this line of work to anyone.