Former Lowell police chief urges council to back Samaras, praises school resource officers

A former Lowell police chief told the council that he supports a motion concerning Bill Samaras and credited Samaras with helping improve safety at Lowell High School. The speaker recounted past days of gang fights and disorder at the school and said that Samaras "stepped up and really supported the idea of using school resource officers in the school."

The speaker said he and Samaras "stood shoulder to shoulder" in providing what he described as an appropriate, community-oriented police presence aimed at keeping spaces such as the lunchroom safe during the day. "He did an admirable job in a very, very difficult position," the former chief said, adding that his own three children graduated from Lowell High and that they knew the Samaras family.

Why it matters: the comment frames Samaras’s work as part of a local approach to school safety that used school resource officers to address disorder and keep students safe. The speaker argued those measures helped calm conditions over time and urged the council to support the motion.

The speaker closed by saying, "I fully support this motion, and I thank the council for bringing it forward." The transcript does not include the motion’s text, identify who moved or seconded it, or record any vote or formal outcome.

What’s next: the council brought the motion forward during the meeting; the transcript does not show whether the council voted or what the precise motion language was. The speaker’s remarks stand as public comment and an explicit endorsement recorded in the transcript.