Chief Peter L. Carnes began his law enforcement career as a Patrolman with the Wenham, Massachusetts Police Department in 1973. He graduated from the 58th Municipal Police Officers Training Class, at the Massachusetts State Police Academy, in May of 1975.
Aside from serving the Wenham Police Department, Chief Carnes was a Police Academy Instructor at the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council’s Lawrence and Topsfield Police Academies. He served his Department as a Training Officer, Safety Officer and Court Officer. In 1981 he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, served as “Acting Chief of Police” in 1983, and was appointed as the Chief of Police, in February of 1984. In March of 1995, he accepted the position of Chief of Police, of the Yarmouth, Massachusetts Police Department on Cape Cod. On January 15, 2008, he retired from that position to accept the position of Chief of Police and Director of Campus Safety, at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts. On January 18, 2019, he retired from Stonehill College and accepted the position of Police Academy Director for the Cape Cod Regional Municipal Police Academy at Joint Base Cape Cod.
Chief Carnes has served as the co-chairman of the Barnstable County Local Emergency Planning Committee and was the Law Enforcement Liaison to the Southeastern Massachusetts Homeland Security Committee. He is a Life Member of the International Chiefs of Police Association and has severed as the North Atlantic Regional Chairman of the IACP’s State Association of Chiefs of Police Section. In October of 2012 he was installed as the General Chairman of the SACOP Division of the IACP. In October of 2015, he was appointed as the IACP Parliamentarian to the Board of Officers. Chief Carnes has been awarded public service awards from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Rotary International, the Dana Farber Cancer Center, as well as the Yarmouth Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2015, he received a Lifesaving Award Recognition from the Lions Club of Easton, Massachusetts. In December of 2016, he was awarded the James Olivieri for dedication, commitment and outstanding leadership in Campus Policing, by the Massachusetts Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators’. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Technology Commercialization. He is a frequent public speaker on various policing topics and has been appointed by the Governor of the Commonwealth to serve on committees for the prevention of Sexual Abuse and Domestic Violence. For the past eighteen years he has served on the prestigious Military Academy Selection Committee for Southeastern Massachusetts.
Professional Education, Training and Instruction
- Master in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College
- Bachelor’s degree in Law Enforcement from Northeastern University
Professional Development and Speaking Engagements
- Master in Criminal Justice from Anna Maria College
- Bachelor’s degree in Law Enforcement from Northeastern University
Memberships and Affiliations
- Cape Cod Community College, Adjunct Faculty (former)
- Stonehill College, Adjunct Faculty (former)
- Roger Williams University, Guest Lecturer
- Command Training Institute, Babson College
- Law Enforcement Trainers Institute, Boston University
- Federal Bureau of Investigation Law Enforcement Executive Development Program
Local Government Professional Background
Over 35 years of active public safety experience
- Police Academy Director for the Cape Cod – Regional Municipal Police Academy, 2019 – Present
- Chief of Police Director of Safety – Stonehill College, Easton, MA, 2008 – 2019
- Chief of Police, Yarmouth (Cape Cod), MA, 1995 – 2008
- Chief of Police, Wenham, MA, 1984 – 1995
