MANCHESTER, NH – Manchester Police Department welcomed five new sworn officers, all with experience in other municipalities during a brief ceremony at the Office Michael Briggs Community Center at the MPAL building.
In addition to the new officers, three long-time members of the police squad were promoted
Capt. Brian N. O’Keefe has served with the Manchester Police Department for 23 years.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell in 1996, and a Master of Criminal Justice Administration from Western New England College in 2000. Over the course of his career, he has also earned a number of specialized training certifications and awards.
During his tenure, Capt. O’Keefe has served as a patrol officer and as an area officer within the Community Policing Division, as well as the inaugural Manchester Police Athletic League Coordinator at the Officer Michael Briggs Community Center. Capt. O’Keefe has served as a volunteer with the Police Athletic League since 1996 and currently assists with the MPAL wrestling program.
He was instrumental in the initial building renovation and grand opening of the Officer Michael Briggs Community Center, in 2004 and the latest building renovation in 2016. He served with distinction on MPAL’s board of directors from 2000-2016 and also served as the Executive Director from 2010-2016.
Following his promotion to the rank of sergeant in 2009, Capt. O’Keefe was assigned as a Patrol Street Supervisor, and then in 2013 was reassigned as to the dual roles of supervisor within the Community Policing Division, and the department’s Public Information Officer.
Upon promotion to lieutenant in 2015, Capt. O’Keefe retained his supervisory position within the Community Policing Division and continued his PIO duties, as well has maintaining his Community Policing responsibilities. In 2017, he was reassigned to the Administrative Division, making his public information officer duties his full-time responsibility.
Captain O’Keefe served as a Crisis Negotiator on the SWAT team from 2007 to 2012. He received a Certificate of Recognition in 2004 recognizing his countless hours of work, both on and off duty, to refurbish the Police Athletic League facility and developing programs for the city’s youth. He also received a Certificate of Recognition in 2007 for his contribution to the Officer Michael Briggs homicide investigation. In 2012, he was the recipient of the Pastoral Counseling Services Good Samaritan Award in the Education category, recognizing his “above and beyond” work with youth through the Police Athletic League.
Capt. O’Keefe and his wife, Michele, have four children: Kaleigh, who graduates from Ohio State University in May of this year; Emily, a freshman at the University of New Hampshire; Jack and Ella, who both attend middle school in Bedford, where they have lived for the past 18 years.
Captain O’Keefe will oversee the Community Policing Division.
Lt. Peter A. Marr has served as a law-enforcement professional for 18 years. He began his career in 2000 as a patrol officer with the Montgomery County Police Department in Silver Spring, MD, before joining the Manchester Police Department in 2003. Lt. Marr is a 2001 graduate of the Montgomery County Police Academy, and completed additional training at the NH Police Standards and Training Academy in 2003.
Lt. Marr earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Middle Eastern History, with a minor in Political Science, from the University of New Hampshire. Over the course of his career he has also attained certification in a number of specialized training programs, including certification as a polygraph examiner, which he attained from the Northeast Counter Drug Training Center.
He is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. He served from 1992 to 1996 as a squad leader with 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines and was honorably discharged at the rank of Corporal. He served in Operation Uphold/Support Democracy in Haiti, and Operation Assured Response in Liberia.
During his tenure with MPD, Lt. Marr has served as a patrol officer, and as an investigator, beginning with an assignment to the Domestic Violence Unit and then in 2009, as a member of the Detective Squad. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2015, first assigned to Patrol as a Street Supervisor, and since 2016 as supervisor of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Unit.
He has been a polygraph examiner since 2010 and he is currently the head of the Polygraph Unit, he was also a member of the department’s SWAT Team from 2011 to 2019. As a member of the SWAT Team, he served as an entry operator and sniper, and just recently stepped down from his position as the Assistant Team Leader. In addition, he is also a rifle and pistol instructor and an active shooter instructor.
As a Lieutenant, he has been assigned to Patrol as the Midnight Shift Supervisor.
Lt. Marr has been the recipient of several awards:
- In 2004, he was awarded the department’s Life Saving Medal for assisting in evacuating residents from a burning building. He also received a N.H. Congressional Law Enforcement Medal for that same action.
- In 2007, he was the recipient of the department’s Honorable Service Medal recognizing his actions during and after the fatal shooting of Officer Michael Briggs in 2006.
- In 2012, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in recognition of his actions related to the apprehension of the armed suspect in the shooting of Officer Dan Doherty.
- In 2014, Peter was commended for his work related to a burglary initiative implemented in the fall of 2013, which culminated in the arrest of numerous individuals and the recovery of stolen property worth tens of thousands of dollars.
- Also in 2014, Peter was named the Officer of the Month for September and then later named the Officer of the Year for 2014.
- In 2015, he received a Certificate of Recognition for his efforts from April 2014 to September 2015, in that he conducted polygraph examinations in the 18-month hiring process of 39 sworn and 6 civilian staff.
- In 2017, he was awarded a Life Saving Medal in recognition of his rendering medical aid to a man who had suffered a heart attack in the lobby of the Police Department.
Peter and is wife, Heather, have two children.
Sgt. Jared K. Yaris has served as a law-enforcement professional for 13 years. He began his career in 2005 as a patrol officer with the Goffstown Police Department, before joining the Manchester Police Department in 2010. Jared is a 2005 graduate of the 138th session of the NH Police Academy.
Sgt. Yaris earned a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice in 2005 from Norwich University in Northfield, VT. Over the course of his career he has also attained certification in a number of specialized training programs.
Sgt. Yaris served with the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve from 2003 to 2010, assigned to a Tactical Law Enforcement Team, in Opa Locka, FLA, and Port Security Unit 301, in Buzzards Bay, Mass. He was deployed to Bahrain in 2007 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2009 he deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
During his tenure with MPD, Sgt. Yaris has served as a patrol officer, firearms instructor, and since 2012, as an investigator within the Special Enforcement Division. During this time he served four years in an undercover capacity with the Special Investigations Unit. As Sergeant, he has been assigned to Patrol as a midnight shift street supervisor.
Sgt. Yaris has served on the SWAT team since 2011, as a member of the Entry and Sniper Teams. With his promotion to Sergeant, Jared will serve in a supervisory capacity on the team.
He has been the recipient of several MPD awards:
- In 2010, he was awarded the department’s Life Saving Medal for rendering aid to a subject who had attempted suicide by vehicle exhaust inhalation.
- In 2016, he was the recipient of the department’s Chief’s Achievement Medal recognizing his dedicated and diligent work as the lead investigator and MPD liaison to the New York City-based task force that investigated Bronx gang members responsible for distributing crack cocaine in the Manchester area, and who were procuring firearms in N.H. for transport back to N.Y. City. In the final phases of the investigation, Jared orchestrated the arrest of a ranking member of the organization. From that arrest damaging information against the organization came to light, leading to the indictment of 90 gang members.
- In 2017, he was awarded the Honorable Service Medal in recognition of his diligence in a collaborative initiative that led to the arrest of the suspect of a rash of armed robberies of convenience stores on the West Side.
Sgt. Yaris and his wife, Christie, have two children, Phoebe, and Piper.
Officer Brittany L. Battye, 34, was born in Concord, and attended Merrimack Valley High School in Concord, from 1999 through 2001, and obtained her GED in January 2004.
She served in the U.S. Army National Guard, assigned to the 237th Military Police Company in Plymouth from 2008 to 2014. She was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, and spent the last year of service at Fort Drum in New York. She had several different assignments to include the Military Police, Drug Suppression Team, and also worked as an Army Recruiter / Soldier Outreach Counselor. She was honorably discharged at the rank of Sergeant.
Officer Battye has been employed as a police officer for the town of Loudon since July 2018.
She resides in Hillsborough with her partner, NH State Trooper Lexy Halpin.
Officer Austin M. Biery, 24, grew up in Raymond and is a graduate of Raymond High School, class of 2012. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Communication, with a minor in Homeland Security, from Rivier University in Nashua, in May of 2016.
Officer Biery began his law-enforcement career in 2015 as a part-time police officer for the towns of Madbury and Salem. He became a full-time officer in Salem in 2017.
Austin’s father, Todd Biery, is a former MPD officer, who retired in 2014 after 25 years as a law-enforcement professional.
Austin resides in Raymond.
Officer Zachary T. Liupakka, 23, grew up in Salem and is a graduate of Salem High School, class of 2014. He studied toward a degree in Criminal Justice at Northern Essex Community College and has plans to resume his studies in the near future.
Officer Liupakka Zachary began his law-enforcement career in November 2016 as a part-time police officer for the town of Hampton. He has been employed as a full-time officer for the town of Salem since July 2017.
Officer Liupakka resides in Manchester with his girlfriend, Hannah, who is a full-time police officer for the town of Allenstown. He and his wife Hannah welcomed their daughter, Emma, into the world in February.
Officer Tyler S. Toney, 30, was born in Plainview, TX, but spent the most of his life here in Manchester and is a graduate of Memorial High School, class of 2007. He studied toward a degree in psychology at Southern New Hampshire University and plans to further his studies at the NH Technical Institute.
Since 2015, Officer Toney has been employed as a police officer for the Town of Hudson.
Officer Toney lives in Manchester and has three children, Xavier and Gabriel, 4, and daughter Marilyn, 6 months old.
Officer Jack V. Wagoner, 29, grew up in Connecticut and graduated from Northwest Catholic High School, in West Hartford, class of 2007. He earned an Associate’s degree in general studies from St. Petersburg College, in Clearwater, FLA in 2009, and attained a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers in 2011.
After graduating, Jack pursued a professional baseball career, and was a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians for three years, going on to play fo several independent professional teams before deciding on a career in law enforcement.
Officer Wagoner has served as a police officer with the town of Londonderry since December 2016.
He and his wife, Tania, reside in Bedford.
