Henniker Board of Selectmen Announce next Police Chief

Chairman of the Henniker Board of Selectmen Tom Watman, today announced the Board’s selection of Sgt. Ryan Murdough as the next Henniker Police Chief. Murdough will be sworn in, at the Selectmen’s meeting of June 2^nd, to succeed Police Chief Timothy Russell who is retiring after serving for twenty years as the town’s chief. 

“Sgt. Murdough’s eighteen years of exemplary service in local area law enforcement made him a highly competitive candidate for the position. Our review committee, composed of five distinguished community members, considered applications from almost forty candidates. After interviews, the screening committee referred two finalists for interviewing by the Selectmen,” Watman stated.

“The Selectmen unanimously selected Sgt. Murdough to become only the town’s third full-time Chief of Police since the post was created in 1969. We are confident that he will continue to see that the town is provided the highly professional law enforcement services that they are used to having. We also feel that the new Chief will be able to promote even stronger ties with all members of our community,” voiced Watman.

 Murdough is currently a Sergeant on the Henniker Police Department.  Ryan Murdough started his career in law enforcement as a part-time police officer for the Town of Henniker in 1991.  In May of 1992 he was hired as a full-time police officer by the Town of Hillsboro.  While in Hillsboro he was trained as a D.A.R.E. Officer and a bicycle patrol officer.  In August of 1994 Ryan took a position as a full-time police officer for the Henniker Police Department.  In 1996 he was promoted to the position of Detective and held this position until April of 2004 when he was promoted to the rank of Detective Sergeant.

Murdough is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, and the NH Army National Guard.  He participated in the Gulf War in 1991 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004.  He retired from the NH Army National Guard in August of 2006 with 20 years of service.

Murdough also holds an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice from NH Technical Institute and an Associates Degree in Automotive Technology from NH Technical College.  He is a certified Accident Reconstructionist and in charge of the Serious/Fatal Accident Team.  He is also in charge of the departments Major Crime Scene Team.  He is the Field Training Officer program supervisor.   

He has been a D.A.R.E. officer for more than 15 years, teaching D.A.R.E. in the Hillsboro, Henniker, and Washington School Districts.  He has attended numerous investigative, leadership and management schools.  He is a graduate of the 227th Session of the FBI National Academy held at the FBI Academy in Quantico VA. 

Tom Watman