The chiefs of police and fire department in Hanover, Massachusetts, have lived practically parallel lives. After 43 years serving the same community, both are retiring simultaneously as 2021 winds to a close.
The two men, Walter L. Sweeney of Hanover Police Department and Fire Chief Jeff Blanchard, born just four days apart, were friends in middle school. As teenagers, both started their careers as call firefighters—Sweeny in 1977 and Blanchard in 1978—before splitting off into their respective departments.
