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Alex Baer did not come to Abbot Hall alone Wednesday night. His fiancée, Whitney, was there with their two children, Mila and Trey, along with at least one grandfather, as Police Chief Dennis King asked the Select Board to make Baer Marblehead’s next police officer.
The board said yes, with strings attached. Before Baer can wear a Marblehead badge, he must clear a medical exam and drug screen, a psychological evaluation and a physical abilities test, then get through a police academy and earn state certification.
Two jobs, a long search
King told the board the department asked a couple of months ago to fill two officer positions, and the hiring process has been slow. He said the department worked through about 80 candidates before finding people who would accept the job.
The first of the two hires started at the academy Monday, King said. Baer is the second.
Both positions are new jobs paid for by the $15 million Proposition 2½ override voters approved in May. A first-quarter town financial report in the board’s meeting packet budgets $130,964 for the two officers in fiscal 2027 and lists one officer already in the academy and a second to be hired in January.
Baer grew up in Beverly and graduated from Beverly High School and North Shore Community College, where King said he earned an associate degree. He now lives in Danvers. For the past few years, he has worked security at the USS Constitution for a private company, where he supervises other guards and holds the rank of lieutenant.
King, who is from Salem, joked that he would not hold Baer’s Beverly roots against him. His Oct. 22 letter to the board says the department ran a background check and an oral board interview, and King said the vetting goes past a résumé.
“We really do a big dive into who you are as a person,” King said. “I don’t take these recommendations lightly. I never have, and I truly believe that Alex will do well here at Marblehead.”
Conditions before the badge
Select Board Chair Dan Fox, who told King the board always trusts his recommendations, read the motion. It also requires Baer to withdraw from any other police department’s hiring process. The offer takes effect Jan. 25, 2027, or the first date an eligible academy has an opening.
Board member Rossana Ferrante seconded the motion, and the board approved it by voice vote with no objections.
King asked Baer whether he had seen the academy yet. Baer said he had not.
“It’s nice, but you’ll be busy for six months,” King told him.
“I’m sure,” Baer said.
Fox noted that, with two small children in the room, Baer already looked plenty busy.
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