Chief David Clark grew up in Reading and graduated from Reading Memorial High School in 1989. He joined the U.S. Army after high school and served as a Military Police Officer. During his time in the service he was stationed at Fort McClellan, Alabama and then at Fort Carson, Colorado. He was deployed to Panama, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Cuba. After the Army he worked as an EMT for Northshore Ambulance.
Chief Clark was hired by the Reading Police Department in 1995 and served as a patrol officer from 1995 to 2005. While working as a patrol officer he served as a RAD Instructor, radKIDS Instructor, Field Training Officer, and was a member of the mountain bike unit and Honor Guard Unit. Chief Clark was a certified CPR, First Responder and AED Instructor and trained the department on the AEDs, and was the EMT coordinator.
In 2005 Chief Clark was promoted to Sergeant and worked as a patrol supervisor from 2005 to 2014. While working as a patrol supervisor he became the RAD Program coordinator, Field Training Program Supervisor, and Honor Guard Unit Supervisor. Chief Clark also became an instructor for the Municipal Police Training Committee and taught CPR and First Responder to officers at the annual in-service training and also taught at the reserve police academy.
In 2014 Chief Clark was promoted to Lieutenant and served as the Night Patrol Division Commander. He worked as a Lieutenant from 2014 to 2016. While working as the Patrol Commander he also became the Field Training Program Manager, New Hire Coordinator and Honor Guard Commander.
In 2016 David Clark was promoted to Deputy Chief of Police and in December of 2018 he assumed the role of Acting Chief.
In 2020 David Clark was promoted to Chief of Police. He has his Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from Western New England University. He is married and has identical twin boys and is an avid collector of police memorabilia and has a large collection of police hats and badges from all over the world.
Honors & Achievements
- Official Citation, Massachusetts State Senate, March 2011
- Official Citation, Massachusetts House of Representatives, March 2011
- "Officer of the Year", Reading/North Reading Chamber of Commerce, 2010
- "Officer of the Year", Reading/North Reading Chamber of Commerce, 2008
- "Pillar of Character" recipient, J.W. Killam School, Reading, MA, November 2001
- Appointed by the Chief of Police to represent the department in recovery efforts at the World Trade Center following the September 11th attack, 2001
- Presenter, New England Community Police-Crime Prevention Symposium; St. Anselm's College, Manchester, NH, June 1997 and June 1998