HOULTON, Maine — The Aroostook County commissioners on Wednesday evening approved a familiar face with 30 years experience in law enforcement to become a special agent with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Fort Fairfield Police Chief William Campbell, who previously was a member of the drug task force for six years, will return to the agency as an investigator.
“It is a passion for me, and I am good at it,” Campbell, who has been chief of the Fort Fairfield Police Department since 2011, said Thursday. “This move has nothing to do with the department I am in now or the work I am doing here. The timing just seemed right.”
After being promoted in 2015 to Director of Public Safety in Fort Fairfield, Campbell also became responsible for oversight of the town’s fire department and served as the community’s emergency management director. His last day in those posts will be March 4.
Town Manager Jim Risner on Thursday named Fort Fairfield Police Sgt. Shawn Newell as the new police chief and director of public safety.
During their meeting on Wednesday night, the county commissioners approved a deputy sheriff commission for Campbell so that he can join the MDEA on assignment from the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office.
Originally from Fort Fairfield, Campbell earned a law enforcement degree at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and joined the Presque Isle Police Department in 1986. He worked there as a patrolman, sergeant and investigator for several years before beginning a stint as an investigative agent with the MDEA in 2006. He left that post in 2011 when he was hired as police chief in Fort Fairfield.
“I have worked with Bill throughout his career and can tell you that he is a very tenacious and effective investigator,” Sheriff Darrell Crandall said Thursday.
Newell, a 21-year veteran of law enforcement who started working as sergeant for the Fort Fairfield Police Department in 2009, said in a news release issued Thursday that he was honored to have the opportunity to serve the town in his new capacities.
“I look forward to continuing to provide the same standard of excellent service to our citizens that has become expected thanks to Chief Campbell’s dedication and leadership,” he said.
