The Falmouth Police Department’s Community Engagement Unit posed during the Wounded Warriors Project Soldier Ride. (Photo Courtesy Falmouth Police Department)
FALMOUTH — After years of building relationships with residents, supporting students and raising money for local causes, the Falmouth Police Department has earned the New England Association of Chiefs of Police (NEACOP) Community Policing Award.
The Department earned first place in the category for communities with populations of 30,000 to 50,000. It will receive the award Nov. 16 at the 2026 NEACOP conference in Warwick, Rhode Island.
The award recognizes departments that have made community policing a sustained, department-wide commitment. Applicants are reviewed by the NEACOP Community Policing Committee and faculty from Roger Williams University.
Falmouth Police expanded its community policing work in 2023, when Chief Jeffrey Lourie joined the department and the Community Engagement Unit took on its current name. The Department’s commitment to community policing began years earlier.
Now led by Officer Julia Massi, the Community Engagement Unit serves the community through school, neighborhood and fundraising events.
The unit is made up entirely of volunteers. Officers are not required to participate in the program, yet 43 patrol officers, lieutenants, sergeants and a captain, alongside an additional two clinicians, deputy chief and chief of police all volunteer their time to the cause.
“This award shows our officers that the time the extra time they put in and the additional work they do matters,” said Officer Massi. “Everyone who attends these events does so outside of working hours, and their time is appreciated. Hopefully this will serve as motivation for us to keep going. I’m constantly paging out for different events from home, and this shows me that it’s worth it. All of the extra time that I put into it and the team puts into it is worth it.”
Through the Community Engagement Unit, four of Falmouth’s elementary schools and one middle school have two to three school liaison officers who work with students and staff to connect with the school community.
Officers stop by the schools for lunch with the students, participate in High Five Fridays, visit on the first and last days of school, volunteer at field days and attend trunk-or-treat events.
In the broader Falmouth community, officers host Coffee with a Cop, Touch-a-Truck events, Stuff a Cruiser donation drives benefiting the Cape and Islands Toys for Tots and participate in several fundraisers.
The unit raises money for Special Olympics Massachusetts through several events, including the Law Enforcement Torch Run, Tip-a-Cop restaurant events, Cops and Cones events at Dairy Queen, and Over the Edge, where police officers rappel down the side of the Hyatt Regency Boston for charity.
The Community Engagement Unit is one of the top sponsors of the annual Cops and Cars for Tommy’s Place fundraiser. Officers within the program staff the event and raised $54,832 last year.
For the past two years, the unit has also hosted a charity gala benefitting Cops for Kids with Cancer, raising just under $25,000 each year.
“We are honored to have been recognized with the NEACOP Community Policing Award,” said Chief Jeffrey Lourie. “Our Community Engagement Unit was created to foster and strengthen relationships within our community, and thanks to the dedication and kindness of our team, we have succeeded in doing so. I am grateful to Officer Massi, whose leadership within this unit has been invaluable to our department and community. I am proud to see her and the Community Engagement Unit recognized by NEACOP for their hard work.”
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Community Engagement Unit members Officer Dominic Viola, left, Sergeant John DePonte and Officer Julia Massi were “slimed” as part of a fundraiser for Falmouth’s Teaticket Elementary School. (Photo Courtesy Falmouth Police Department)
Members of the Community Engagement Unit and Dairy Queen staff posed during a Cops and Cones event, where officers serve ice cream to raise money for charity. (Photo Courtesy Falmouth Police Department)
A Dairy Queen employee teaches a Community Engagement Unit Officer tricks of the trade during a Cops and Cones event. (Photo Courtesy Falmouth Police Department)
Community Engagement Unit Officers welcome students to school during a High Five Friday. (Photo Courtesy Falmouth Police Department)
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