Sheriff James V. DiPaola

James V. DiPaola is the 28th Sheriff of Middlesex. Middlesex is comprised of 54 cities and towns and over 1.4 million people. Sheriff DiPaola was elected on November 7, 1996 and sworn into office on November 27, 1996 to fill out the remaining two years of the term.

Prior to being elected Sheriff, DiPaola served two terms as the State Representative from Malden. ( Thirty-Sixth Middlesex District) He was first elected in November of 1992 and re-elected in November of 1994. In January of 1993, DiPaola was elected President of his class by his peers in the House and Senate.

Before serving as State Representative, DiPaola was an eighteen year veteran of the Malden Police Department, serving with distinction as a patrolman, a sergeant and as an undercover narcotics detective. In addition, DiPaola has also served over 25 years in the United States Military Reserves.

In his first term as a state legislator, DiPaola was named to serve on three joint committees: Transportation; Election Laws; and Public Service. In addition, DiPaola had the honor of being appointed by the Speaker of the House to three special committees: The House Committee on Redistricting; the Committee to Investigate the State Firefighters Exam; and the Boston Megaplex Committee.

In only his second term in office as a state representative, DiPaola was chosen as Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Human Services and Elderly Affairs, overseeing approximately 50% of the State budget, while continuing to serve on the Joint Committees of Election Laws and Public Service. In 1996, DiPaola was named "Legislator of the Year" by four different groups: The Massachusetts Environmental Police Association; the Massachusetts Veterans Service Agents Association; the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association; the Massachusetts Police Association.

In only a few short months, Sheriff DiPaola has completely overhauled the hiring promotional, training, purchasing, classification, civil process and prisoner rehabilitation programs of the Middlesex Sheriff's Office.

After discovering that some of the correctional officers were working on line without any formal training, Sheriff DiPaola immediately instituted a new training program for the officers. The first class graduated 22 officers and the second class of 33 officers was the largest class ever to attend the Middlesex Basic Training Academy. All future officers must first successfully complete the rigorous training academy to assure that they are physically and mentally prepared to protect themselves and preform their jobs to the best of their abilities.

To eliminate a long standing problem with patronage and politics being more important than job performance in the hiring and promotion of officers, Sheriff DiPaola took the unprecedented step of publicly declaring that his re-election campaign committee would not accept any donations from employees of the Middlesex Sheriff's Office. New guidelines to ensure that performance, and not politics, would be the key determinant in promotions were instituted and employee morale has increased immeasurably.

Two specific programs that Sheriff DiPaola has reinvigorated are the Sheriff's Anti-Graffiti Program and his Community Work Program. The Anti-Graffiti program operates in conjunction with local and state police departments to coordinate, track and monitor gang activity. Using inmates to remove the graffiti, Sheriff DiPaola and the correctional officers assigned to guard the inmates, work on the rehabilitative value of honest work and community service. The Community Work Program, available to all 54 communities of Middlesex also provides inmate labor for unskilled jobs such as painting, litter pick up, snow removal, storm clean up and light construction. These programs, along with unique innovations such as Sheriff's DiPaola'a "Aggressiveness Awareness Program" provide inmates with real solutions to their problems and begin to build the foundation for their successful return to society.

The complete overhaul and reform of the Civil Process Office is another feather in Sheriff DiPaola's cap. In hiring a Director of Civil Process as an employee of the Sheriff's Office instead of the contraction out of private help, Sheriff DiPaola has taken the initial steps to integrate the entire Civil Process Division under his direct control. The Civil Process Office has been a quagmire of political favoritism and abuse under previous administrations and Sheriff DiPaola has instituted sweeping reforms in the billing, processing and serving of papers to guarantee strict accountability and oversight and to eliminate the mechanisms and the motive for abuse. To eliminate problems associated with "bounty hunters" and freelances, Sheriff DiPaola has created the Civil Process Division completely under the auspices of the Sheriff's Office and has reorganized the personnel by creating a Civil Enforcement Unit under the Director to coordinate and oversee the processing of all arresting deputies.

Sheriff DiPaola's efforts have earned him praise throughout the Middlesex communities. He has been honored by the American Legion at their annual state convention for his "constantly shown deep concern for the well being of our often forgotten veterans and the preservers of our beloved nation and its glorious philosophy, "by the Medford Savings Lives Program,"in recognition of his concern and commitment to the good health and well being of our youth through his efforts against drunk driving."