My name is Terry Cunningham, and I am pleased to be running as your candidate for IACP fourth vice president. I serve as chief of police in Wellesley, Massachusetts—a bedroom community just west of Boston, which is host to three large universities.

If you’re like me, you think being a police officer is one of the greatest jobs on earth and that being a chief is a leadership challenge unmatched by most professions. I am proud of my 30 years of experience in policing, including my service as chief for the past 12 years. During my career in professional policing, I have strived to serve as a leader in the law enforcement community, most notably through my tenure as president of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association (MCOPA) in 2009, as vice president for four years before that, and as chairman of the MCOPA Legislative Committee for the past eight years. I am also the Massachusetts representative to the Division of State Associations of Chiefs of Police (SACOP).