Jennifer Paster Named Acting Chief Of Brookline Police Department

BROOKLINE, MA — Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Paster has been named Acting Chief of Police for the Town of Brookline, the department said Tuesday.

The appointment comes after Chief Ashley Gonzalez was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this month after being accused of breaking the town's policy against discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation.

Paster has been a Brookline Police Officer since June 2000. She was promoted to Sergeant in 2011, to Lieutenant in 2017, and to Deputy Superintendent in 2021 and is the first female Chief in the Brookline Police Department’s history. She was most recently assigned to the Community Service Division as that Division’s Commander.

Throughout her career, Patster she has been assigned to the Detective Division as the Intelligence Officer, the Community Service Division as the Safety Officer, the Patrol Division as a patrol officer and patrol sergeant, and to the Administrative Division as the Accreditation Manager and Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) co-coordinator, a program which she co-founded in 2013.

Paster is also the recipient of the 2018 “Innovative Leader in Law Enforcement” Award from NAMI-Massachusetts as well as the 2021 “Law Enforcement Exemplary Leadership” Award from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.

Born and raised in Brookline, Paster and comes from a large family of Brookline civil servants. She and her husband have four children, ages 11, 8 (twins), and 6. She is a graduate of Brookline High School, holds a M.S. in Criminal Justice Administration from Western New England College and a B.A. in Sociology/Psychology from Union College, and just completed her second year of Social Work School at Boston College School of Social Work.