Five New Officers Enthusiastic About Joining the Ranks of the Hingham Police Department

December 10, 2021 By Carol Britton Meyer

Hingham Police Chief David Jones said the department is "incredibly excited and proud" that three of the five recruits who were appointed as police officers by the Select Board this week are related to current HPD officers.

Ryan Achille is the son of K-9 Officer Robert Achille, Ashley Duff is the sister of Officer Kevin Duff, and Tim Moriarty is the brother of Officer Griffin Moriarty. Hugh Healey and Ryan Finney are the other two newly-appointed officers.

"The need to fill upcoming vacancies is due to the long process that it takes to bring a new officer on board," Jones told the Hingham Anchor. "We started this hiring process in September. Once they graduate from the Police Academy -- which they will start in January -- they will enter three months of field training – meaning these five new officers will not be on their own and count toward our staffing levels until October or November of 2022."

As background, Officer Healey, a certified EMT, completed tours of duty with the United States Army from 2014 to 2019 to Poland, Bulgaria, and Germany. He recently moved to Hingham.

During his interview for the position, Healey stated that he is pursuing this profession in order to “help people” and to “do something different every day.” He noted that working in the community would allow him to achieve a “rapport with residents.” His preference is to “be a name, not a number" in his dealings with the community.

Officer Duff, who graduated from Hingham High School in 2016, received a degree in early childhood education from Curry College in 2020 and is certified as a registered behavior technician.

When she was interviewed, Duff stated that the ongoing pandemic made her rethink her career path and drove her toward one in law enforcement. She also stated that she is motivated by her respect for law enforcement to succeed in this profession and stressed the importance of the attributes of “integrity and trustworthiness.” Duff also mentioned the significance of being able to deal with a variety of different people and said that as a police officer in the Town of Hingham she will work toward making “everyone feel safe and welcome."

Officer Finney, who was born and raised in Hingham, graduated from Hingham High School in 2017 and has volunteered for the Hingham SNAP (Special Needs Athletic Partnership) program, worked for the Hingham Recreation Department, and was the president of the Criminal Justice Club at Hingham High School.

Through his rigorous academic and athletic college schedule, he has learned to prioritize goals and multi-tasking. During his interview, Finney spoke of “giving back to the community” and being strongly involved with residents.  He noted that “this community set (him) up for success.” He stressed the importance of time management, integrity, teamwork, and communication.

After growing up in Hingham and graduating from Hingham High School in 2018, Officer Tim Moriarty joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves and was deployed to Japan and South Korea. He is currently enrolled at Bridgewater State University, where he is studying criminal justice.

Moriarty considers policing “an honorable profession" and stated during his interview that he wants to “help people.”  He said he has “always looked up to the police” and wants to foster this sentiment by being a role model in the community.  He also spoke of “adapting to and overcoming any situation” while remaining “caring and compassionate."

Officer Ryan Achille attended Xaverian Brothers High School, graduating in 2018, and is currently studying criminal justice at Quincy College. He worked for the maintenance department at the Hingham Public Schools and participated in the Hingham Police Department Citizen’s Police Academy.

He spoke about the “integrity and honesty” necessary for the profession of police officer when he was interviewed and mentioned that the Hingham Police Department’s involvement in the community “opened (his) eyes” to this profession. Achille emphasized the importance of “good communication skills” and “hard work" and said that the role of police officer provides exposure to different responsibilities, which he would find rewarding.

Jones said he would like to recognize and thank the HPD detectives and supervisory staff "who spent many long hours conducting background checks and participating in the police panel interviews – along with our dedicated team of field training officers who volunteer to train our new officers. Without them, we would not have the caliber of high-quality recruits and officers that we enjoy."