After 23 years, police officer retires

Thursday, June 17, 2010

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MILFORD – Twenty or 30 years ago, this town was rougher than it is now. Bar fights were not uncommon, and because the police station was located in Town Hall, George Durham remembers he often didn’t have to go far to make his first arrest of the night.

Since then, Milford has evolved into a much more family-friendly town, and Durham believes the Milford Police Department was responsible for some of that change.

Durham retired on May 28 after 24 years as a police officer and 23 years as a Milford patrolman, which he calls a “23-year investment in my family and in the community.”

After one year as a Hollis officer, he came to work in Milford in 1987. He and his wife Tina grew to like the town so much they moved their family to Milford from Nashua 11 years ago.

And their children thrived here. Melissa, the eldest, is a marine biologist and their middle daughter Dyanna is a lawyer. Their youngest, Rebecca, is in the fifth grade.

Over the past 20 years or so, the Milford Police Department became more community-oriented, Durham said, and part of that was starting bike, motorcycle and foot patrols so officers could interact with citizens on more relaxed terms.

“The community got on board just as much,” he said, pointing to the rehabilitation of the downtown, including the brick sidewalk project initiated by former Chief Steve Sexton.

“People could see the town get nicer and they moved in,” he said.

Durham is 45, which seems young to retire, but he thinks of it as moving on to another phase of life.

He grew up in Hollis, where public service was always a part of his family. His father, Frank, was a part-time police officer for 25 years while he worked as a computer programmer. His mother, Sue Durham, was a Hollis state representative for many years.

He will continue coaching girls volleyball at the middle school and working as a part-time manager at Hampshire Hills Sports and Fitness Club. And he and Milford police officer Hunter Philbrick are starting a tree business.

Continuing as a patrol officer, with its night shifts and daytime duties, including morning court appearance, had become too debilitating, he said. And desk work was not an attractive option.

“I’ve never wanted to do anything but patrol work,” he said. “Unless you get a day shift,” the hours “are very hard on the body and on the family.”

Durham will not miss the patrol officer’s hours and carrying around 32 pounds of gear, but he will miss working as a motorcycle officer and the camaraderie that’s a natural part of the job.

“I know all the police, the firefighters – they are all great people,” he said. “I know my family is safe here.”

He was honored as a state hero after the Woodland Heights apartment building fire in the late 1990s and was seen on YouTube after he stopped libertarian Lauren Canario on the road and Free-Staters videotaped her non-compliance.

But the most fun was being the town’s first DARE officer and School Resource Officer.

“The schools were very open to the (SRO) program, and it was challenging,” he said.

Officer Durham, aka “OD,” as the kids called him, has been involved with the young people for most of his career, with yearly bike rodeos and fishing derbies, and he was also on the police bicycle patrol, motorcycle patrols and the dive rescue team.

Sometimes parents will come up to him and tell him, “You saved my son.”

“That happens on a regular basis,” he said. “But I didn’t save him – it was the whole concept, the whole community – it’s the village that raises a child.”

Durham said he’s deeply grateful to his wife for enabling his work.

“It’s impossible to describe the difficulties in being a police officer’s wife,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it without her support and love.”

Kathy Cleveland can be reached at kcleveland@cabinet.com or 673-3100, ext. 21.