January 9, 2020 – Hartford, WI – It was a story posted January 8 on WashingtonCountyInsider.com as the Hartford Police and Fire Commission unanimously appointed Hartford’s current Administrative Lieutenant, Scott MacFarlan, as the new Chief of the Hartford Police Department.
MacFarlan will take over effective February 11, 2020.
Scott MacFarlan has spent the entirety of his 24-year law enforcement career at the Hartford Police Department. He began as a patrol officer before earning a promotion to the rank of Detective.
After serving three years in that role, he earned a promotion to Administrative Lieutenant, and has served in that capacity for the last 13 years.
As the Administrative Lieutenant, he oversees the department’s Investigations Bureau, Emergency Communications Center, Community Outreach Programs, is the Liaison to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office for all criminal complaints, and performs a variety of technical support duties.
MacFarlan came to the Hartford Police Department with an Associates Degree, and later completed his Bachelors Degree at night through Marion University. He is currently enrolled in a Masters Program at Marion. MacFarlan is also a graduate of the University of Wisconsin’s Certified Public Managers Course.
He brings valuable senior command officer experience with him garnered from the roles he has played in the renovation of the Hartford Police Department’s facility, multiple upgrades within HPD’s Emergency Communications Center, and a variety of community outreach efforts.
MacFarlan made it clear to the commission that he fully embraces the community-based policing model at the Hartford Police Department, and that at his core he was “COMMUNITY PROUD.” He plans to build on the many community partnerships that the Hartford Police Department has built over the years.
Chief Scott M. MacFarlan will join a select group of Hartford’s Top Cops. Since the department’s founding in 1922, the reigns of the agencies command have only been held by seven other individuals: Chief John J. Murray (1923-1944), Chief Harold J. Emmer (1945-1953), Chief Clement J. Mueller (1954-1966), Chief James W. Gregor (1967-1980), Chief David C. Henry (1980-1992), Chief Thomas O. Jones (1992-2006), and Chief David A. Groves (2006-2020).
Chief Groves said, “Scott MacFarlan has been a long-time member of our Senior Command Staff Team. I have always valued his input regarding the vision and operations of our department. I believe Scott will make an excellent Chief of Police. I wish Chief MacFarlan a long and successful career.”