Nashua’s Finest: The History of Law Enforcement in Nashua NH

Description The township of Dunstable, part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established in 1673. In 1682, Joseph Parker, the settlement's first "lawman" was paid 20 shillings for the previous seven years of work as the town's only Constable. With the advent of several textile mills by the early 1820's, Nashua was transformed from a sleepy stage-stop to a, fast-growing and vibrant industrial town comprised of many different ethnicities and cultures. To keep the peace, the Village of Nashua and in 1853, the City of Nashua added more and more police. The turn of the 20th century saw the advent of the automobile and Nashua's earliest "paddy wagons" and police cruisers. By the 1920's, police commanders realized that policing was more than wrestling an intoxicated citizen to jail responsible policing required training. Today, the Nashua Police Department is one of the best trained, and best equipped in the country. They are truly Nashua's Finest!