The Houlton Rotary Club met for its luncheon meeting on Monday, March 6. There were two guests present. Cindy Peterson was the guest of President Matthew Nightingale and the guest speaker was Houlton Police Chief Tim DeLuca, who was the guest of Rotarian Tracy Rockwell.
Nightingale presented Peterson who is the principal of Southside School with a $2,000 check to go toward the current phase of the playground equipment construction at her school. Peterson thanked the group and updated them on the three-year process to build a playground.
Rockwell introduced Chief DeLuca who comes to Houlton from Old Orchard Beach where he had a 32-year career. DeLuca is a family man and has three children in various stages of their careers and education. He began his career as a reserve officer at age 19 and worked his way up to full-time corporal. He compared Houlton and Old Orchard as similar small towns with community-driven law enforcement. The chief said he has felt warmly welcomed to the area. He discussed his philosophy in his approach to law enforcement which is working closely with businesses.
Chief DeLuca plans to begin his walk around town soon to meet business owners and assess the needs of the area. He likes to be proactive and not reactive in his attitude to the community in which he works. He first met with his staff in December after he had given Old Orchard Beach nine week’s notice in October.
He shared his approach to the staff about never leaving a situation with no answers, even in a phone call. He always looks for resources to aid citizen concerns. He believes in training for officers with new methods in a “middle-of-the-road approach.”
Knowing that the town is suffering financially he is working to make his department run efficiently. He looks to have more visibility in schools so that children become comfortable with law enforcement’s presence. He is using precautionary actions and training for lockdowns to being more approachable. His “Citizen’s Academy” and “Community Watch Council” are being organized to work with the residents and he welcomes visits from members of the community.
He finds a restorative approach works well with youth when they face someone they may have hurt. He mentioned an experience with a 15-year-old who smashed the mailbox of an 85-year-old woman. Upon meeting the old woman the youth felt her pain and better appreciated the hurt that he had caused. When the victim and the subject mediate, more healing is gained, he said.
DeLuca said he was honored to work with his department as they solve some major crimes in the area. They have approached Smith and Wesson, the Houlton Higher Education Center, the Houlton Regional Hospital to have policies in place in the event of an emergency. For example, officers will have keys available to entrances in the event of a lockdown.
DeLuca looks forward to learning the expectations of the community and developing necessary programs. He understands that he will always be an “outsider” but that won’t deter him from getting out there to meet business owners and those residents interested in helping his programs.
President Nightingale reminded the group of upcoming meetings for the Bingo committee and the Board of Directors. He also asked for someone to show interest in being the next sergeant-at-arms.
March birthdays were recognized by the Sergeant-At- Arms Nate Bodenstab.
