Crime & Safety

Officer Mark Gibbons to be Named 'Top Cop'

Gibbons and family dedicate themselves to public safety in Woburn.

 

Officer Mark Gibbons will be honored as a Top Cop of 2011 by the National Association of Police Officers, reported the Boston Globe Sunday.

Officer Gibbons and nine others will be honored with the award during National Police Week in Washington, D.C. this May.

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“This award is the direct result of Officer Gibbons’ heroism on Sept. 6, when he faced a life-threatening situation and reacted appropriately,” Woburn Police Chief Bob Ferullo told the Globe.

On Sept. 6 of 2011, Officer Gibbons responded to the in which Officer Robert DeNapoli was shot several times by a suspect. Officer Gibbons returned fire and shot the suspect, Antonio Matos, who was Matos has since been stemming from the robbery and shooting.

Find out what's happening in Woburnwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Public safety runs in the Gibbons family and has for years.

Officer Mark Gibbons is in his 17th year as a Woburn Police patrolman alongside his brother, Lt. Joseph Gibbons. Their brother, Jack, also served on WPD until his death in 1999. A fourth brother, Ron, has since retired from the Woburn Fire Department.

The brothers' father, WPD Ret. Inspector John P. (Jack) Gibbons Jr. also served on the WPD force. Officer Mark Gibbons wears his father's badge—#27. Coincidentally, father and son have both been involved in shootings in Woburn—Inspector Gibbons responded to the hold-up of the Suburban National Bank in the 1970s.

A fundraiser will be held in Officer Jack Gibbons' name, as well as Officer Jack Maguire's name. More information on that fundraiser will be in Woburn Patch Thursday!


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