In his last 18 years serving Merrimack County as a police officer, Boscawen Chief Jason Killary has seen it all from unidentified flying objects while on patrol to children drowning in the Merrimack River. 

“I was training and we’re sitting in the park and ride and there was a light in the sky and it started to move in a weird and unnatural way and then it just took off,” he said. “We just looked at each other and never said anything about it.”

Within the last decade or so, Killary has responded to several drownings in the Merrimack River from the Hannah Duston State Park to the Northfield end where both children and adults have perished. 

Since Killary’s in-house promotion to chief in April, his focus has shifted from responding to emergency situations and suspicious incidents to more administrative and managerial responsibilities, like scheduling, budgeting and overseeing operations for the department. Much like his former position as lieutenant, Killary is wearing both hats while the hiring process continues. 

When Killary first sought an education in law enforcement, he aspired to be a conservation officer with his sights set on the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department until an opportune part time position for a patrolman opened up at the Webster Police Department where he began his career in 2005. In 2009, he left the department and joined the adjacent town of Boscawen as a full time patrolman before his promotions to sergeant, lieutenant and most recently, chief. 

“I left Webster because the budget was slashed in 2009,” he said. “A lot of people who were not necessarily pro police wanted to see things cut so they cut the public safety budget by $150,000, which meant me because I was the newest hire.” 

Other departments in the area, like Boscawen, were following what was happening in the neighboring town and extended their offers to Killary almost immediately. Since joining the department in 2009, he quickly climbed the ranks and was the only one within the department to apply for the open chief position when his predecessor Kevin Wyman retired. 

As chief, his number one priority is retention and recruitment, a plague in public safety that has impacted municipalities and cities throughout Merrimack County, and the nation. As call volumes increase and the town of Boscawen’s population continues to grow, being understaffed has taken away from response times, community engagement and routine patrolling. 

Of the eight positions the town allows the department to staff, three are vacant, Killary said. 

“When the chief retired in April, we had three officers leave to go to other departments for reasons beneficial to them,” he continued. “We were sad to see them go but we stress family first; you have to do what’s right for your family, but it left us with half a department.”

Once those positions are filled and established, Killary has long term goals to implement additional training for officers and focus more on community engagement through hosted events. In the meantime, the department will continue to focus on the increasing calls throughout the summer, hiring initiatives and the population increase. 

But the steady increase has brought more calls for mental health services, motor vehicle complaints, suspicious activity/drug use, domestic violence and homelessness. Over the last few years, the unhoused population in the town has grown which follows the overall population trend of Southern New Hampshire getting busier as people continue to move north. 

“I’m really looking forward to having a positive impact on the community and hopefully enjoying it while I do it,” Killary said. 

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