Photo: Belmont Police Department

Three finalists – one from the next town over, there’s the current president of state’s Police Chiefs organization, and a deputy chief from (barely) across the state line – to fill the post of Belmont’s police chief will be presented at a Friday afternoon meeting, Feb. 20, of the Belmont Select Board.

Who wasn’t selected for a final interview was an internal Belmont Police Department candidate, a request from the patrol officers and sargents unions as well as many residents.

The finalists coming before the Select Board on Friday are:

• 2:30 p.m.: Shane C. Smith
• 3:30 p.m.: Daniel S. Unsworth
• 4:30 p.m.: Shane D. Woodson

Shane Smith is the deputy chief in Salem, NH. He has spent his entire law enforcement career on the Salem Police Dept., spanning 24 years. Smith attended the prestigious FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA in 2024. He graduated from University of Massachusetts Lowell with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology.

Daniel Unsworth has spend the past 19 years on the Watertown Police Department, most recently as Captain of the department’s Administrative Services Bureau which includes the Detective Division, budget management and facilities management, and managing community policing. Unsworth has his master’s in Criminal Justice from Western New England University.

Shane Woodson is the chief of the Southbridge Police Department where he has served for the past three decades. This past December, Woodson was installed as the 2026 President of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association.