Retired Police Chief Scott D. Benton comes to JGPR in 2025 with 33 years of experience in public safety and law enforcement management and administration, with the majority of that time spent in executive leadership roles. He provides leadership training and consultation, and helps JGPR to better serve the needs of our police clients overall.
Benton served as Chief of Police for the Whitman Police Department from 2012 to 2019. Prior to being named chief, he was the deputy police chief at the Whitman Police Department from 2008 to 2012. Following his retirement in 2019, Benton served as the Interim Chief of the Plympton Police Department from 2021-2022, and most recently served as a court prosecutor for the Abington Police Department.
While serving as the Whitman Police Chief, Benton served along with a fellow chief as the Joint Control Chiefs for the Mobil Operations Division of the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SEMLEC) from 2016 to 2019. This Division provided mutual aid resources and support to the thirty-member police departments in each of their cities and towns.
Benton served as a member of the Civil Service Committee and the School Safety and Security Committee for the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association in 2014-2019. During his time on each committee, Benton helped to advise fellow police chiefs on such topics as crisis management, human resources, policy development, oversight, program development, accountability, contract negotiations, grievance management, budgeting, management rights and grant writing. Among the initiatives that Benton and the committee helped to accomplish was the development of statewide guidelines, protocols, and policies for how to respond to critical situations in school settings, such as active shooter incidents. While serving on the Civil Service Committee, Benton assisted in areas of facilitating recruitment, hiring, test development, assessment testing, along with the navigation of the civil service process.
Benton assisted in developing statewide recommended protocols for Managing Initial Response to Critical Incidents for the State of Massachusetts as a member of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. These protocols were developed in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing response and taught at all police academies to new officers and at in-service training to veteran officers.
During his time as Whitman Police Chief, working together with fellow Plymouth County police chiefs, Benton also implemented a multi-faceted collaboration in response to the drug addiction epidemic, working together with recovery coaches, community organizations and local coalitions, in order to make treatment, resources, and harm reduction tools more accessible to people living with substance use disorder and their loved ones.
Benton provides a wealth of knowledge to enhance client communications and operations, offering proven strategies and reliable input on the implementation of police department protocols and policies.