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| Darrell O. Crandall Jr. |
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — Changes are under way at the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department, Aroostook County Jail and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Darrell O. Crandall Jr., a lieutenant with the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department and commander of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, was named the new chief deputy for the department.
He succeeds Craig Clossey, who was named as the new Aroostook County Jail Administrator during a July 17 meeting of the Aroostook County Commissioners in Houlton.
Clossey replaces longtime jail administrator James Foss, who is retiring Aug. 1. Clossey is a 25-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department and has spent the past 12 years as the chief deputy.
“I received a memo from my chief deputy (Clossey) requesting to be named as the new jail administrator,” Sheriff James Madore said. “He began his career as a corrections officer and has been a patrol deputy and training sergeant. He’s received training from both the state and national institute of corrections. He is more than qualified for this position. He has been a great chief deputy and I think he will do a stellar job as the jail administrator for years to come.”
Commissioners also recognized Peter Arno of Dover-Foxcroft as the new commander of the MDEA. Arno, a 25-year member of the Bangor Police Department, retired as chief deputy from that department in August, 2012. He returned to the Bangor Police Department in October 2012 to serve as the interim police chief, a post he held until April, 2013, when a full-time chief was named.
County Administrator Doug Beaulieu explained that even though Arno has already been sworn in as the new MDEA commander, Aroostook County was sponsoring him as its home base of operations.
“We are hopeful that since we are sponsoring you there will be some fond attachment to Aroostook County,” Beaulieu said. “We hope you will have a soft spot in your heart for our needs up here.”
At last week’s County Commissioners’ meeting, the board agreed to change the pay structure for the chief deputy position so that it and the jail administrator positions were not at the same level.
“The chief deputy position is superior to the jail administrator position and should be on a higher pay range,” Beaulieu said.
The commissioners did not have to name Crandall to his new post, as that falls under the jurisdiction of the sheriff. Clossey’s new positions begin Aug. 1, while Crandall starts his new job on Aug. 5.
“Getting back to the Sheriff’s office in a leadership capacity has been something of interest to me for some time,” Crandall said. “It just seemed like a real good opportunity for me.”
Crandall started his career with the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office in 1985 as a corrections officer and attended the basic correction training. He quickly transitioned to working as a patrol deputy and graduated from the Basic Municipal/County Police Academy in 1987. He continued in that role until 1989, at which time he was assigned to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (then the Bureau of Intergovernmental Drug Enforcement – BIDE).
In 1993, he was promoted to a field supervisory position with MDEA, in which he was responsible for the direct supervision of all drug enforcement operations in Aroostook and Washington counties. He was also promoted to sergeant with the Sheriff’s Office that year and continued in that role for 12 years, also managing MDEA’s lab team for most of that time.
He was promoted to commander of MDEA in 2005.
Crandall said he will miss working with his staff at the operations level at MDEA, but was excited by the prospects of being closer to home as the deputy chief.
