Two highly respected officers retire from CPD

By Mike Berger

With nearly 62 years of police work between them, Officer Robert Sykes and Sergeant Mark Ronayne have retired from the Canton Police Department: Sykes on Labor Day and Ronayne on October 14.

Officer Robert Sykes and Sgt. Mark Ronayne (Mike Berger photo)

Police Chief Ken Berkowitz and Deputy Chief Helena Findlen each had praise and warm wishes for both. Berkowitz and Findlen were trained by Ronayne when they began their careers working as officers on the midnight shift.

“Sgt. Ronayne was the best direct supervisor I ever had,” said Berkowitz. “He gave us leeway to do our job but also clearly laid out specific boundaries for us. This was especially important because we were a shift of inexperienced police officers at the time.”

Working with Mark as her supervisor on the midnight shift included some of the “best times” in her life, said Findlen. “He was so knowledgeable, nothing ever seemed to rattle him. His tone, decision-making ability and characteristic attitude that [a situation] ‘was not a big deal; we will respond, react and resolve this matter,’ helped me as a young rookie and helped develop my confidence in the new role I had undertaken. I felt he was the big safety net for each of us ‘newbies’ assigned to him. He brought us under his wing and never let us fall. He took the time to teach, counsel, mentor, and occasionally chastise each of us.”

Sykes laid new ground for the department as the first Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) officer, working with the elementary grades and later with middle school students on safety and drug and alcohol education.

“Officer Sykes did it right when he left several weeks ago,” said Berkowitz. “I realized he did not have an enemy inside or outside the department. Whether it was at the schools, the rink, the athletic fields or in the locker room at CPD, people always described Bobby with the same two words: great guy.’”

Findlen said one of the officers found the perfect words to describe Sykes when he was walking out the door to his retirement. “Nobody here can say you didn’t do things the right way,” the officer said. “Whether he was dealing with youth, interacting with residents and business owners, unselfishly offering advice to younger officers or a funny one-liner to another, he did the right thing, he said the right thing, he is the real thing,” Findlen praised.

Prior to joining the force, Ronayne worked four years in security for John Hancock and served four years in the Air Force. He has been the midnight sergeant for 24 years, mostly by choice so that he could see more of his children, including son Brian, who has worked for almost seven years as a police officer.

Ronayne said the best part about the midnight shift is less traffic and less calls. “The bad was boredom,” he said, adding, however, that usually when something happens at that hour, “it’s bad.”

Ronayne has two other sons besides Brian: Mark, a corrections officer, and Adam, who works for the Mass. Dept. of Youth Services. Ronayne plans to spend his retirement enjoying his family, his five grandchildren, and playing golf.

Sykes started his career with the CPD as a part-time officer in 1979 and was appointed as a full-time officer in 1982. He served as the DARE and school resource officer for 16 years. He remembers the DARE classes he shared with his children, Robert, Chris and Lindsey.

“The job made me realize how many good kids there are in Canton,” he said. “I began to realize when kids do the right thing, it doesn’t often make headlines. When they do bad things, it makes the news.”

Sykes wants to be remembered as an officer who treated people fairly. “It’s not always easy when you live in the town; the people you might have to pull over are people you or your family knows,” he said.

One month after retiring, Sykes is doing road details and plans to work part-time at a funeral home. He is also a grandfather and still enjoys his parents, George and Agnes.

Ronayne and Sykes agree that they enjoyed coming to the station every day to work with their fellow officers, and they had high praise for all staff members.

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