THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022 Page 7 ASKS | FROM PAGE 6 as a job – I looked upon it as an opportunity. I truly liked what I did. I truly liked helping people. Q: What will you consider the most memorable part of your job when you look back 10 years from now? A: I would say helping people to get off their addiction to narcotics and knowing that they’re still doing well. I think that’s a good thing. Q: Do you have a couple of people you look after now? A: Yes. I’m still in touch with them. I converse with them: “Hi. How are you doing?” I remember this young woman I would buy drugs from and she had a young child. And I had to arrest her. But she got her life turned around, and she would send cards to the offi ce saying if it weren’t for getting arrested, she would have lost her child. And that was a success story. Q: Was that a Saugus person? A: She actually lived in Saugus at that time. I would go there. It was strange. I would go to that house as a member of the narcotics task force, and the little kid would get to know me. It got to the point where if I was going to go lot of it takes family support. But in the end, the person has got to want to do it for themselves. But when you find out that they’ve done well and turned their lives around, that’s awesome. And there are three people who I arrested who are still clean, and I see them regularly. Q: After working all those years in drug enforcement, do you have any personal thoughts on how the drug offenders should be dealt with? A: Getting hooked on heroin – or any drug – is a terrible thing. And my personal view is I don’t think the user needs to be incarcerated. He Q: How many girls were involved? A: There were seven that we knew of. He had contact with many diff erent girls – as we did the forensic search of his computer – and we were able to reach out to all of the girls. Q: What were the ages of the girls? A: At the time, I’d say they were all under 16 when this happened. At the time, we didn’t have a school resource offi cer at the high school, and I wound up working closely with the school offi cials. A lot of the girls did go to Saugus High School at the time. Q: How old was the off ender? A: He was a couple of years older than them. He was about 17. Q: Was he a student at the school? A: At one point, he was. Q: Is there any case that eluded you and frustrates you as you look back? ASKS | SEE PAGE 8 MPR ENGINEERING CO. AFFORDABLE & COST EFFECTIVE ~ LICENSED & INSURED~ KUDOS FOR A COP: Left to right: State Rep. Jessica Giannino (D-Revere), retired Saugus Police Detective James Donovan, Saugus Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli and State Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus) during an informal presentation of citations last week honoring Donovan’s 32 years on the police force. Giannino and Wong presented Donovan with a commendation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Chief Ricciardelli presented the detective with a plaque from the men and women of the Saugus Police Department. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate) When my wife was still working, some would come over and say, “If it wasn’t for Jim, my life would be a lot diff erent.” That meant a lot. As much as I was involved in the narcotics fi eld, I really tried to help a lot of people. Q: As you look back on that part of your career when you did a lot in the drug enforcement area – if you can share the tragedy and damage it does to people’s lives. Is there any one case or incident where you saw something that’s haunted you over the years? A: Yeah. A lot of times you see a mother and a father, and the drug takes a hold of them and they get addicted to it. And there are very young children, and you look at them and say, “Oh my gosh!” There’s this very young child and it’s heart-wrenching. there, I was going to bring a “Happy Meal” for this little kid. It was sad that the mother was on drugs. But I don’t know anyone who has said, “I’m glad I’m a heroin addict.” Nobody wants to be on that drug. Q: Have you kept tabs on that lady? A: No. But I think she moved with her family down into the Philadelphia area. But there are three people in this region right now that I still know of. I bump into them on a regular basis. They always make it a point to come over and say “Hi” to me and let me know that they’re doing well. That’s a hard thing to do, as you know. Many people stumble several times before they get on the right track, whether it’s drugs, alcohol or any other kind of addiction. It’s a hard road to haul, and a or she should be in a medical facility: a place where they receive treatment and rebuild their self-esteem and self-respect. I believe a medical facility would be better than a voluntary rehab center. And I’m a great proponent of AA. You need a good support group as part of your rehabilitation. Q: What’s the case in your career that you are most proud of during your service to Saugus Police Department? A: We had a person who was sexually assaulting young girls. It was going on for a while, and eventually we were able to fi nd out what was going on and we ended up arresting him. There were several girls he was sexually assaulting and taking advantage of. We arrested him and put him away and brought closure for the girls who were young at the time.
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