Experience, education, and a dedicated past record demonstrating an unwavering commitment to public service and safety.
About James Valiquet
for Merrimack County Sheriff
James’ Story
Read James' Campaign Announcement Letter
To the residents of Merrimack County New Hampshire, I am announcing my candidacy for the position of the Merrimack County Sheriff.
My fervent hope is to continue to work with the outstanding men and women of the Merrimack County Sheriff’s Department. The Merrimack County Sheriff’s Department has a tradition of superior law enforcement in serving the residents of its 27 towns and has the honor of having the state capitol within it the City of Concord.
I have over forty years of New Hampshire Law Enforcement experience. I have lived in Newbury, NH for 28 years. My wife Carolyn and I have three children, as we lost our oldest son to cancer. We are also the proud grandparents of six grandchildren. I graduated Exeter High School in 1971 and worked at New Hampshire State Police Troop A as a Cadet/Dispatcher during the summer. In the fall of 1971, I enlisted in the United States Air Force and served as a Nuclear Weapons Specialist.
I returned to Exeter, New Hampshire and joined the Exeter Police Department, in July of 1975, graduating First from the 31st Session of the New Hampshire Police Academy.
While serving in Exeter, I held several positions, I served as a Patrol Officer, Juvenile Officer for four years, Detective in Major Crimes and Police Prosecutor for 10 years. My responsibilities were for the prosecution of violations and misdemeanors, and the preparation of felonies for presentation to the Superior Court.
While working full time, I completed my bachelor’s degree, with a concentration in Management, at the UNH School for Life Long Learning, now Granite State College, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1984.
In January of 1992, I accepted the position of Chief of Police, for the Town of Newbury, New Hampshire and served there for 13 years. As Chief of Police, I led, supervised, and directed the law enforcement members of the community. I managed the full spectrum of law enforcement activities including, patrol, investigations, and prosecution. While serving in Newbury, I joined and served on the Newbury Fire Department, as a Fire Fighter/EMT and attained the rank of Lieutenant. I was also a volunteer for the Bradford Rescue Squad and served as an Emergency Medical Technician for 10 years. I served as Captain of the of the first underwater rescue dive team, comprised of First Responders from the Lake Sunapee Area. While serving as Chief of Police, our officers were encouraged to become Fire Fighters and Emergency Medical Technicians; this was designed to assist the volunteer fire department with critical daytime coverage.
I attended and graduated from the NH Juvenile Officer Institute and Babson College Command Institute.
In 2004, while Police Chief in Newbury, I also served as acting Police Chief in Bradford New Hampshire. I retired from Newbury at the end of 2004, and I am currently Police Chief in Bradford, NH. I have recently joined the Bradford Fire Department as Lieutenant/Safety Officer.
In May of 2019, I received my Master of Arts Degrees in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, from New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire. I am a Past President of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police serving from 2006 to 2007. I have been appointed to the State of New Hampshire E911 Commission serving Governors Lynch, Hassan and presently Governor Chris Sununu. I am a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Northeast Working Group for Criminal Justice Information, an active member of the New Hampshire Law Enforcement Memorial Association, and the New Hampshire Police, Fire, and EMS Foundation. I am currently the Chairman of the Governance Board for the Town of Bradford Community Center.
While President of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, I created the New Hampshire Police, Fire, and EMS Foundation. The Foundation was created to: “To Be a resource for the needs of Police, Fire, and EMS personnel and their families in dealing with crisis or catastrophes not covered by insurance or employing agencies, and or workers compensation funds.” To date, we have supported First Responders with over $170,000.00 in assistance.
I am currently serving as President of the Central New Hampshire Special Operations Unit a regionalized critical incident response team. The team is made up of member community’s police officers. As President, I sit on the Board of Directors and lead in the budgeting and over all operation of the unit as well as, serve as the deploying authority for the command structure.
I believe that my experience, education, and dedicated past record, demonstrate my unwavering commitment to public service and safety.
I respectfully ask for your vote this November as your Sheriff for Merrimack County.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Chief of Police, Bradford, NH
Lieutenant, Bradford Fire Department
Chief of Police, Newbury, NH
Detective, Exeter, NH
Patrol Officer, Exeter, NH
EDUCATION
Master of Arts, Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
Bachelor of General Studies, Concentration: Management - Magna Cum Laude
Diploma
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
NH Association of Chiefs of Police
Merrimack County Police Chief's Association
International Association of Chiefs of Police
FBI Northeast Working Group for Criminal Justice Information System
NH Police Association
Central NH Special Operations Unit
RELATED TRAINING & EDUCATION
Graduate, 200th Session, New England Law Enforcement Management
Graduate
Graduated 1st, 31st Session
United States Air Force
CAREER-RELATED TRAINING
Campaign Platform & Goals
- Re-establish regular meetings of the Merrimack County Chiefs of Police Association
- Discuss facing county law enforcement and provide support for smaller communities
- Establish community meetings with first responders to coordinate training for critical incident response
- Regionalize a countywide system for incident response to critical infrastructure, such as schools
- Utilize Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident Management (NIMS) for appropriate police, fire, EMS response
- Assist county communities with grant writing to procure training and equipment for first responders without placing the burden on taxpayers
- For example, body cameras that serve two purposes: Preserving integrity of police actions and protecting communities from frivolous civil litigation