On Tuesday, January 14, 2025, the Wellesley Select Board made two promotions within the Wellesley Police Department.
Detective Mark D’Innocenzo was promoted to Sergeant, and Sergeant Mike Lemenager was promoted to Lieutenant upon the recommendation of Police Chief Scott Whittemore and the Command Staff of the Wellesley Police Department. The promotion was conducted during the regular Wellesley Select Board meeting. The meeting was well attended by department members and families.
From Detective to Sergeant: Mark D’Innocenzo
Detective Mark D’Innocenzo has been a member of the Wellesley Police Department for fourteen years. He is a former United States Marine, where he finished as a Marine Sergeant. Mark joined the department in 2010 as a Wellesley Police Department Dispatcher, working in the Emergency Communication Center. While serving as a dispatcher, Mark completed his associate’s degree in criminal justice.
While working as a dispatcher, Mark was activated by the Marine Corps and subsequently deployed to Afghanistan in a combat role in 2011.
In 2013, Mark was appointed to the department as a Police Officer. During his time as a police officer, Mark served as a Field Training Officer and became a Firearms Instructor. Mark also completed his bachelor’s degree from Westfield State University in Criminal Justice.
In 2019, Mark was promoted to Detective, serving with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Mark continued to be a lead firearms instructor for Wellesley, teaching and training during our annual firearms requirements. He was also assigned to serve with the Norfolk County Anti-Crime Task Force, and Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (METROLEC) Investigative Support Unit as a detective. These units serve over 45 cities and towns and are used to augment local departments when a significant investigation or emergency occurs.
In 2022, Mark completed his Master of Science Degree in Investigations with a focus on Financial Crimes from the University of New Haven. In 2023, Mark was assigned as a Task Force Officer (Detective) to the United States Secret Service.
Sergeant D’Innocenzo will now supervise a shift of officers in patrol.
From Sergeant to Lieutenant: Mike Lemenager
Sergeant Mike Lemenager has been with the Wellesley Police Department for 14 years, and a full-time police officer for 17 years. Mike started his career as a summer/part time officer on Nantucket in 2004. In 2007, he was appointed to the Nantucket Police as a full-time officer and then was promoted to detective.
Mike transferred to the Wellesley Police Department in 2010. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2015, where he has served for the last 9 years, primarily supervising the evening and overnight shifts.
In addition to his patrol supervisory duties, Mike is a certified accident reconstructionist. He has investigated many serious and significant motor vehicle crashes that have occurred in the Town of Wellesley. He also is a member of department’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), and oversees our department scheduling, and internal electronic roll call programs. These programs have greatly enhanced and streamlined our scheduling and assignments for all levels of the department, as well as simplifying our internal communications platforms.
Mike is an experienced background investigator, and has conducted many background investigations of dispatch candidates, as well as the police officer candidates.
Mike has organized and managed all of the Wellesley Police Department’s Red Cross blood drives and recently partnered with Dr. Lussier and the Wellesley Public Schools to expand the capacity of the events. For the last several years, Sergeant Lemenager has organized and supervised the Wellesley Police operations with regards to the annual Turkey Trot 5K race on Thanksgiving. This race has expanded to over 3,000 runners with 14 police officers and UAV operations. Lt. Lemenager holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Northeastern University.
Lt. Lemenager will now be in charge of the Traffic and Parking Division of the department.