HOULTON, Maine — For the past two months, Houlton’s new police chief Terry “Joe” McKenna has been getting acclimated to life in northern Maine after spending the bulk of his life in central Florida.
A meet-and-greet for McKenna and his wife Marty was held Thursday evening at the County Co-Op on Main Street in downtown Houlton.
“I started in law enforcement in 1976, working part-time while putting myself through the (police) academy for the Edgewood Police Department in central Florida,” McKenna said.
McKenna is a 38-year veteran of law enforcement who was previously retired. He is the former Deputy Sheriff/Commander with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, a post he held from August 1981 to January 2006. From January 2006-October ‘09 he transitioned to a reserve deputy sheriff with the same agency and from November 2009 to the present, he has served as a reserve lieutenant/law enforcement officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Formerly of Winter Garden, Fla., McKenna was one of 12 applicants for the town’s police chief position. He took over the job on Jan. 5. Born in Ohio, McKenna’s family moved to Florida when he was about 5 years old.
So how does a central Florida police officer find his way to northern Maine?
“I actually have two friends of mine that live up here,” McKenna said. “I am friends with the Presque Isle Police Chief Matt Irwin, who I worked with in the past, and Roland LaCroix, who is chief at the University of Maine at Orono. They both told me about this job opening and encouraged me to apply.
McKenna said his wife was born and raised in Massachusetts, so the couple has visited New England numerous times over the years. They actually came through Houlton in 2013 on a trip to Prince Edward Island.
“We’ve taken motorcycle trips all over New England, visiting and enjoying the weather,” he said. “So when this came up, it was like ‘What have I got to lose?’ I love the small town environment and the people have just been phenomenal.”
McKenna said he has been impressed with the staff of his new department in the two months he has been on the job.
“This department is the perfect size to make a difference,” he said. “Plus the other agencies have been very supportive.”
The climate has been one of the more difficult aspects of the change, and his friends in central Florida have taken amusement at pointing out how much snow Houlton has and how cold the weather has been.
“It really hasn’t been that bad,” he said. “I guess my expectations were far worse. I was thinking it would be Antarctica-type weather, but it hasn’t been that bad.”
Among the changes he plans to implement is changing the color of the department’s police cruisers when new vehicles are added. The new color scheme will be silver and blue, as opposed to the current white and blue design. He said he also wants his officers to be more visible in the downtown community, walking into stores and meeting with merchants.
Getting to know the people in the community has been a welcomed change for the McKennas. The chief said in the short time they have lived here, he has already had more meaningful discussions with his neighbors and those in the community than he ever had in Florida.
“Where I came from in central Florida, it was a bunch of people living in a city,” he said. “You have neighbors and you see them when they pull out of their driveway in the morning and when the drive in at night. The rest of the time there is not interaction with them.”
McKenna said he enjoys it when someone approaches him while he is out for a walk, or at a store shopping. Often times, those people simply want to say “hello” and introduce themselves.
“I am just overly impressed with the friendliness of the people here in Houlton,” he said.
