On May 7, 1890 Superintendent of Police Maurice Pierce began his official duties. The Town had appropriated the sum of $10,000 to run the Department. Superintendent Pierce moved his newly formed police department into a small office at the "Chemical One" fire station located behind the Town Hall.

Superintendent Pierce received an annual salary of $1000. The night watchmen, were paid $821 a year. The officers were expected to pay for their badges and uniforms. Three months after its inception the Police Department moved from the fire station to the Walter Baker Chocolate Complex. This was a temporary measure while a wooden building located on Wharf Street in Milton Village was being modified for use as a permanent headquarters and lockup for the police department. The police station was occupied and officially opened on September 16, 1890.

In 1905 the department purchased new headquarters at 36 Central Avenue. The site was the former power plant of the Edison Illuminating Lighting Company. Remodeling was necessary in order to provide a functional police station. The department moved into its new headquarters on May 10, 1906 and remained at that location for the next 60 years.

In 1922 the Milton Police Department lost its first Police Officer in the line of duty. Officer Emory Farrington, on foot patrol near the 1700 block of Canton Avenue, was found shot to death on the Metropolitan Parks Access Road. When Officer Farrington failed to report on his hourly ring on the Gamewell call box, a search was initiated. Officer Farrington was found lying face down having been shot at close range from behind. Beside him was a stolen car that had been stripped of its parts. Officer Farrington apparently had come upon car thieves who shot and killed him. The murderer was never found. Every year for fifty years the department sent one fingerprint found at the scene to the FBI but it was never matched to any suspects. Officer Farrington had been on the force 21 years at the time of his death.