Groton Town — A promotion ceremony for two members of the police department was held at the Town Hall Annex on Wednesday afternoon.

Sgt. Nicholas Parham has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. A native of Groton and Preston, Parham has served with the Groton Town Police Department since 2005 as a patrol officer, field training officer and commmunity policing officer.

Most recently, he was assigned to supervise the newly formed Regional Community Enhancement Task Force, where he led seven federal narcotics-related prosecutions. Parham was assigned as acting lieutenant in November to oversee the detective division.

Officer Gregory McCarthy has been promoted to the rank of sergeant. He joined the department in 2007 after 20 years of service in the U.S. Coast Guard and has served as a field training officer, community policing officer and a member of the department's bike squad.

For his work on DUI detection, McCarthy has been recognized the last three years by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving and was named the Groton Town Police Department's officer of the year in 2010.