Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood will retire in January after 36 years with the Department, he announced this week.
Osgood stepped into the role of chief on an interim basis when his predecessor, John Duval, retired in 2013. He was tapped permanently for the position about a year later.
“The legacy of his leadership will be stability and professionalism,” Mayor Byron Champlin said.
With Osgood at the top, the Concord Police Department solved the 2022 murders of Stephen and Wendy Reid, who were shot on a hiking trail near their home. The killer vanished, but detectives tracked him down and caught him in Vermont with a one-way plane ticket to Berlin, Germany and $7,100 in cash.
Osgood, originally hailing from Nashua, joined the ranks of Concord police in the spring of 1989. After nearly a decade on patrol, he became a detective on youth- and abuse-related cases, working his way up to the position of deputy chief in 2007, which was then called major.
The force has three deputy chiefs now: Matthew Casey, Barrett Moulton and Steven Smagula.
When Osgood officially became chief in 2014, he pointed to the condition of the police station as the biggest challenge facing the force. When he steps aside sometime in the middle of next month – the exact date is yet to be determined – he will do so just a few months before a new $41 million police headquarters is expected to begin construction.
The force has also grown in his twelve years at the helm from 84 sworn officers to 90. With the addition of a police social worker unit in 2024, now with three members, the civilian staff has also grown.
“He’s done a terrific job of maintaining department morale and recruitment goals,” Champlin said.
Osgood made $149,974 in total wages in 2024, according to city records.