Police Chief Sean Kennedy in 2024.
Lincoln Police Chief Sean Kennedy has been placed on administrative leave after being arrested over the weekend at his Westwood home on domestic violence charges.
Kennedy was arrested by Westwood police on May 10 and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a wall) and assault and battery on a household member. He was arraigned Monday in Dedham District Court and released on $1,500 bail. He was ordered to stay away from the victim.
Reached by the Lincoln Squirrel, Westwood Police Chief Jeffrey Silva declined to specify the charges on which Kennedy was arrested, saying that state laws concerning public records and police logs “enumerate exceptions [to public release] for certain types of events.” However, WCVB-TV quoted the Westwood police report as saying that Kennedy’s wife said he threw her into a wall at their home during an argument. The victim was reportedly treated at a local hospital for facial injuries and received stitches above her eye. The victim also told officers she had been assaulted by Kennedy in the past, according to WCVB’s account of the police report.
Westwood police informed town officials that Kennedy had been arrested in connection with “an off-duty incident taking place at his residence,” according to a written statement from Town Administrator Tim Higgins. “The town takes any such allegations very seriously and, consistent with town policy, has placed the chief on administrative leave. As with any person under arrest, the chief is presumed innocent pending the results of the legal process. The town will be conducting its own internal review of the matter. At this time, the Town will refrain from any additional comment.”
Kennedy began his career with the Lasell College Police Department and the South Portland Police Department before joining the Lincoln Police Department in 1996. He was promoted to sergeant in 2014 and lieutenant in 2014 before being named acting chief in 2023 (succeeding the retiring Kevin Kennedy, to whom he is not related) and then chief in June 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile.
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