Page 5 - DEC2021

December 2021 NEWFOUNDLAKELIFE.COM Page 5 Nate Buffington Proud to Serve Plymouth Community
By DoNNa RhoDes
PLYMOUTH – Ten months after joining the Plymouth Po- lice Department as a Detective Sergeant, on Oct. 12, 2021, Na- than Paul Buffington was named Deputy Chief for the Plymouth Police Department after hav- ing grown up in the community where he was a graduate from both Plymouth Regional High School and Plymouth State Uni- versity.
“Coming back here is kind of a homecoming for me,” he said.
Upon graduation from PSU with a degree in sociology and psychology, Buffington began his career in law enforcement as an officer with the Thornton Po- lice Department from 2005 until 2006. After one year in Thorn- ton, he was then hired by the Til- ton Police Department, where he spent the next 14 years of his career.
Buffington served as a patrol officer for the Town of Tilton until 2008 when his career took a turn that changed his life path.
The department asked him to step in as an interim prosecutor when their previous officer trans- ferred to another town. Once that position was filled, Buffing- ton began moving up through the ranks until his promotion to Detective Sergeant. From there, he began delving more and more into the investigative field, taking advantage of courses and other opportunities whenever they were presented.
Over the next few years, Buff- ington spent time working with
as the New Deputy Chief of Police
the DEA, attended a three-tier FBI Leadership training course, a variety of State Police Active Shooter courses, FEMA emer- gency management training classes, and much, much more. To this day, Buffington remains a member of the FBI Joint Ter- rorism Task Force, the DEA Clandestine Labs team, and is a Polygraph Examiner as well.
Perhaps of more local sig- nificance, he worked with Bill Wright, now Sheriff of Belknap County, to establish the Belknap County Drug Task Force, where he served as its assistant com- mander.
“It was a part-time job I held to help communities in Belknap County get drug suppliers off the streets,” Buffington said.
He worked closely with the DEA and said he truly loved that connection with others in law enforcement through that position. Outside of the intense investigative work, he developed friendships and relationships with others in law enforcement that he said he “would not trade for anything.”
After 14 years with the Tilton Police Department, Buffington learned in 2019 that Plymouth was opening for a Detective Ser- geant. He decided it was time for a change, and the chance to serve the town he grew up in sounded like the perfect move for him.
On Jan. 1, 2021, Buffington joined the Plymouth Police De- partment, where he immedi- ately felt right at home. Just ten months after settling into his new
On Oct. 12th, Plymouth’s Town Tax Collector Linda Buffington was proud to take part in the promotion ceremony for her son Nathan (Nate) Buffington when he was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Plymouth Police Department. Photo Courtesy
Chief,” said Buffington.
After several years of pre-
paring for a leadership role in law enforcement, Buffington soon learned he was the one the two men chose, and Plymouth’s Board of Selectmen agreed.
“It was all the right time and the right opportunity,” Buffing- ton said.
Since the swearing-in ceremo- nies in October, Deputy Chief Buffington views his new position as much more than yet another promotion; he has worked hard for since he began his career in law enforcement and is very happy to be where he is today.
“Everything is good! It was a challenge to step away from the investigations, but I’m still in- volved- just at a different level,” Buffington said. “There’s a lot to learn, but I’m motivated and really enjoy coming to work each day. It’s important to have a good team behind you, and Alex and I couldn’t be happier!”
job, though, an even more fantas- tic opportunity was presented to him when Chief Steven Lefevbre announced his upcoming retire- ment and revealed he would recommend to the town that Deputy Chief Alex Hutchins be
promoted to chief.
“Once Steve announced he
was leaving, he and Alex sat down with eligible sergeants in the department to make their decision on who they would like
to see become the next Deputy
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