Chief Ed Lennon
Chief Lennon began his distinguished law enforcement career with the East Haven Police Department in 2001 and has previously held the ranks of Sergeant, Lieutenant and Deputy Chief, and numerous assignments throughout his tenure.
Upon the inception of the U.S. Department of Justice Settlement Agreement (S.A.) with the Town of East Haven, Chief Lennon served as the Compliance Coordinator responsible for all communications between the Department and the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as the coordination of the extensive training required by the S.A. for all Department employees, writing, reviewing and implementing new policies, and many other duties. After completing the strict terms of the S.A., the Department showed unprecedented and significant compliance with all objectives, due largely in part to the oversight of Chief Lennon. The S.A. was dismissed after the Department met full compliance in December 2017. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Joint Compliance Expert have praised his efforts to move the Department forward.
Previously, he served as Head of the Administrative and Training Division where he oversaw all training and administrative duties of the Department; and was also the regional commander of the South Central Regional Traffic Unit. Chief Lennon is a CT P.O.S.T. certified instructor who previously taught at both the CT Police Academy and the Milford Police Academy, as part of the cooperative instructor base that teaches for the CT Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office.
Chief Lennon holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice as well as a Master’s Degree in National Security and Public Safety Management from the University of New Haven. More recently, Chief Lennon completed the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives in State and Local Government executive training program and the 2016 New England Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.). Chief Lennon is a graduate of the 66th session of the Police Executive Research Forum (P.E.R.F.) Senior Management Institute for Police (S.M.I.P.) and the 258th session of the F.B.I. National Academy.
Chief Lennon was one of the recipients of the 2017 International Association of Chiefs of Police (I.A.C.P.) 40 Under 40 Award.
Chief Lennon was sworn in as Chief of Police on June 23, 2016.