Swampscott police rebuke town leaders for public statement Sternly-worded statement comes after chief opens investigation William J. Dowd and Leigh Blander The Swampscott Police union late Friday issued a sternly-worded statement aimed at the town’s leadership. “It is with utmost disappointment that we, the members of the Swampscott Police Department, are compelled to write in response to the accusations made in an official document from the town of Swampscott, Office of the Select Board, dated on Jan. 6, 2021,” reads the union statement. The union's statement specifically targets the language in the town's Jan. 6 press release, announcing that Swampscott Police Chief Ronald Madigan opened an independent, internal investigation into the mid-December arrest of a Black Lives Matter protester.