West Bridgewater confirms first female police sergeant in department history

WEST BRIDGEWATER — March 11, 2026 — West Bridgewater Select Board unanimously promotes the town's first female police sergeant and funds two years of regional opioid outreach. The board confirmed Olivia Riley Church — described by Police Chief Nixon as a founding organizer of the department's youth camp program — as the department's first female sergeant in its history, and separately appointed Jacob Sosek, a former New Haven patrol officer with Berklee College of Music campus experience, as a new police officer effective April 20. The board also approved $9,996 in opioid abatement settlement funds for fiscal year 2026 and $11,250 for fiscal year 2027 to sustain West Bridgewater's participation in Plymouth County Outreach, a non-enforcement recovery program whose federal grant funding has been exhausted. Town Administrator David warned the board that Governor Healy's proposed state budget would eliminate Registry of Motor Vehicles holds on license renewals for unpaid excise taxes — a change that could threaten recovery of nearly $2 million in annual revenue — and said State Representative Ploof has agreed to attend the March 18 Select Board meeting to address the issue directly.