2020 Franklin Police Response to COVID-19

March 13, 2020

(Updated 6/12/2020)

Dear Residents, Businesses, and Visitors to the Town of Franklin,

As Chief of Police I have enacted several new policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While many of these are internal and deal with how officers will continue to work and provide public safety, there are a few which the public should be aware of. These are effective immediately and will continue until further notice.

Effective March 10, 2020, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has declared a state of emergency and has urged other agencies to take action to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.  As a police department, it is impossible for our employees to cut off all contact with the public, and because our role in the community is so vital, we must respond to this situation with some changes.  In response to the state of emergency, and to protect the members of the Department and the public, the Franklin Police Department will implement the following changes until further notice.

·      Food - Food brought to the station by members of the community shall not be accepted.  Eating from a large common tray of food is an effective way to spread an illness; therefore we shall not take these trays in until further notice. 

·      Firearms Licensing – Please see the Firearms Licensing page for more detailed information. (Updated 6/12/2020)

·      Tours of Station / Ride Along  – All tours of the station, and Ride Along requests are suspended until further notice.

·      Solicitor Permits – Please see the Solicitor Information Page for more information. 

We understand that some of these changes may be an inconvenience to the public. We ask for your consideration as we concentrate our efforts on being prepared to respond to emergency calls for service and continuing to maintain our mission of providing a safe community for all who live, work, and visit the Town of Franklin. These changes outlined above are in place to limit potential exposure of our staff to the virus and keep them healthy and able to respond to emergencies.

Thank you for your understanding, and continued support,

Thomas J. Lynch

Chief of Police