Patrol Officer Mike Fenore, center, accepted the Leadership in Victim Services Award on behalf of the Mansfield Police Department at the IACP Annual Conference and Exposition held in Orlando, Florida. He was presented the award by IACP Immediate Past President David Rausch, left, and Vice President At Large Pat Ogden, right. (Photo Courtesy Mansfield Police Department)
MANSFIELD — The older officer looked at him, a cigar in one hand and a radio in the other.
As a 23-year-old patrolman, now-Chief Ronald Sellon asked his superior why the department kept returning to one family’s home so often in response to reports of domestic disputes, more than 25 times in a one-year period, without ever addressing the underlying problems. The gruff response he received was to “get back to work” and move on to the next call.
“I said, ‘This isn’t working. What do we do?'” Chief Sellon recalled. “You’re just setting an egg timer to return, and the problem is just going to become worse, which is heartbreaking. I thought there’s got to be a better way we can approach this.”
Nearly three decades later, the Mansfield Police Department is being honored for pioneering an innovative approach to addressing the root causes behind recurring issues in the community through a tiered, structured follow-up program, using a Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) model.
The Mansfield Police Department received the Leadership in Victim Services Award for its tiered, structured follow-up program from the International Association of Chiefs of Police during the organization’s annual conference in Orlando, held Oct. 24-27.
Patrol Officer Mike Fenore, who has served on MPD’s POP Unit since it was established in 2015, accepted the award on behalf of the department.
“It’s nice to see the recognition for the officers,” said Chief Sellon. “More importantly, it represents our commitment to the community and to improving the quality of life for the people we serve. The department’s philosophy is to investigate why recurring incidents keep happening and to develop appropriate interventions rather than continually responding to the same circumstances without resolving the underlying issues.”
The Mansfield Police Department was acknowledged for its work through the POP Unit to establish an Enhanced Domestic Violence Follow-Up Model (EDVFM), which has been in use since 2023. The program establishes a proactive follow-up system for domestic disturbance calls, rather than limiting police involvement to the initial response. The POP Unit, which currently includes two dedicated officers and an embedded mental health clinician, connects affected families with nonprofit organizations that can help address needs identified during follow-up.
The POP Unit, which also works with a domestic abuse advocate, uses principles of problem-oriented policing, pioneered by criminologist Herman Goldstein, and intelligence-led policing. Its approach incorporates the SARA model: Scanning, Analysis, Response and Assessment. Once the POP team identifies underlying circumstances that can contribute to repeat police calls — such as mental health challenges, substance use and financial difficulties — it then makes referrals for services and connects individuals with agencies that can help resolve those problems.
“Oftentimes in our profession, there is too much focus on the noise, which is the disturbance itself, and you’re not focused on the signal, which is the issue at the center of the dispute,” said Chief Sellon. “Sometimes that means locking someone up, but a lot of times that means this family just needs help with a job, they need help with substance abuse issues, or they need help with legal services. There are different root causes.”
In addition to domestic disturbances addressed through the EDVFM system, the POP Unit also responds to ongoing behavioral and cognitive challenges, such as elopement issues involving people with Alzheimer’s disease or autism who wander away from home, thus putting themselves in danger. The POP Unit will engage in follow-up protocols with families, connecting them with services from local nonprofits and even technology, such as GPS devices, to help protect their loved ones.
During follow-up visits, POP Unit officers generally wear plain clothes and drive unmarked vehicles to make interactions less intimidating and avoid stigmatizing families.
The honor bestowed on Mansfield Police at this year’s conference builds on the department’s previous recognition in 2019, when it received the IACP Leadership in Community Policing Award for its problem-oriented operations model.
The award announcement also comes after the Mansfield Police Department recently received a $250,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to add a second mental health clinician for additional coverage as part of its POP response team.
During the conference, Chief Sellon was also sworn in as IACP’s Third Vice President of its Executive Board. Chief Sellon is in line to become President of the organization in 2029. He previously served as IACP’s Vice President-Treasurer and also spent four years on its Human and Civil Rights Committee.
Sellon said he is proud that the Mansfield Police Department’s POP model and SARA approach have delivered measurable results and improved departmental efficiency by reducing demands on patrol officers without increasing patrol staffing.
For example, the work of the POP Unit resulted in a 36% reduction in domestic violence calls at a specific apartment complex in town over a three-year period.
“Generally, our profession focuses too much on showing up, observing whether there’s an enforcement action that should be taken, then waiting for a problem to continue and grow into a larger problem,” Chief Sellon said. “Enforcement will always be required in this profession. Nevertheless, I’m honored to lead a department where we strive to be proactive, identify the root causes of recurring problems, and connect people with the resources they need before those problems escalate. To me, that’s an ideal way to protect and serve our community.”
###
The Mansfield Police Department was awarded the Leadership in Victim Services Award on behalf of the Mansfield Police Department at the IACP Annual Conference and Exposition held in Orlando, Florida. Members of the department posed for a photograph with IACP Immediate Past President David Rausch, far left, and President Will Johnson, far right. (Photo Courtesy Mansfield Police Department)
The IACP swore in its 2026-2027 Executive Board, with Mansfield Police Chief Ronald Sellon becoming its Third Vice President. Chief Sellon is in line to become president of the organization in 2029. (Photo Courtesy Mansfield Police Department)