HOULTON, Maine — By the start of 2015, the town will have a new police chief. The Houlton Town Council unanimously selected Florida resident Terry Joseph McKenna as its new police chief during Monday night’s regular council meeting.
The hiring ends a five-month search for the Shiretown after former Police Chief Butch Asselin was named Houlton’s town manager on July 28.
“I am pleased that he applied for the position as the department needs a full-time police chief,” Asselin said. “Law enforcement is one of those professions where there are always challenges.”
A resident of Winter Garden, Fla., McKenna was one of 12 applicants for the vacant police chief position. McKenna was not in attendance for Monday night’s meeting. He will take over the position on Jan. 5 and will receive an annual salary of $65,000.
McKenna is a 38-year veteran of law enforcement who is presently 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 2009 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.
Asselin said five candidates for the position were interviewed on Sept. 29, while a second session of interviews was held Oct. 28 with eight applicants. One of those interviewed on Sept. 29 asked for, and was granted, a second interview.
Members of the selection committee included Chief Deputy Darrell O. Crandall of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department, Chief Michael Gahagan of the Caribou Police Department, Jeffrey Stillings, resident agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (ICE), Sgt. Brian Harris of the Maine State Police and Asselin.
Some councilors expressed disappointment in not being able to meet with McKenna personally.
Two members of the council — current chairman Wade Hanson and former chairman Paul Cleary — were appointed to sit on the hiring committee, but neither was able to attend due to scheduling conflicts.
“Joe, as he likes to be called, was overwhelmingly the committee’s choice,” Asselin said. “McKenna, and his wife Marty, came to Houlton on Nov. 18 and interviewed in person on Nov. 19 for about two-and-one-half hours. We had lunch downtown and I brought him to the police department for a tour of the building.”
The couple are renting a home in Houlton, while they search for a home to purchase, Asselin said.
As part of the conditions of his employment, McKenna must become certified as a full-time police officer in the state of Maine. He must take a certification exam with the Maine Criminal Justice Academy within one year of his employment.
Any costs of training that he must undergo will be at the town’s expense.
