FORT KENT, Maine — It’s 9 a.m. Wednesday, and Fort Kent’s most popular police officer reports for duty right on time.
The first order of business? A new police-issue jacket and badge from the chief before starting his weekly beat, patrolling the town and spreading smiles and hugs wherever he goes.
Meet Ethan Hill, a 16-year-old Fort Kent Community High School special-needs student who is a deputized auxiliary Fort Kent police officer for an hour each week.
Hill came on board early this past summer, when School Administrative District 27 staff contacted the department on his behalf.
“They were looking for summer activities for Ethan, and they knew he was kind of infatuated with police cars and police officers,” Fort Kent Police Chief Tom Pelletier said recently. “I was brand new in this job and was not sure of our volunteer policy, but I went ahead and said ‘Yes,’ and [Ethan] gave me a smile that was from ear to ear.”
Nearly five months later, that smile has only grown.
Pelletier started by asking Hill whether he would be willing to spend some time washing the department’s cruisers. Hill gave him an enthusiastic thumb’s up, especially when he learned he would be sworn in by Pelletier as a “deputized” member of the department.
“He became our fleet manager,” Pelletier said. “He’d come once a week and help out, and then we’d go for a ride for ice cream.”
Hill’s experience over the summer did not go unnoticed by his teachers and aides at the Fort Kent high school, who all saw improvements in the young man’s social and verbal skills.
“They thought there would be some real value for Ethan if he continued to spend time here,” Pelletier said. “So we decided to keep it up.”
Since joining the force in June, Hill has moved from the motor pool to active patrol duties with Pelletier on Wednesday mornings, bringing cash collected by staff members at the Fort Kent Town Office to the bank.
Hill arrives every Wednesday dressed in his Fort Kent police officer’s uniform — complete with badge, whistle, hat and name tag — accompanied by his one-on-one ed-tech, Dana Plourde.
Pelletier recently added the uniform jacket.
“Are you ready to roll?” Pelletier asked the young man after making sure Hill’s jacket fit and adding a badge to it.
“Good job,” Hill replied, heading out of the chief’s office to collect the bank bags from the Fort Kent town clerks.
But before handing over the bank deposit bag, the clerks insist on collecting a hug from their favorite officer of the day.
“He is just the sweetheart of the year,” Fort Kent Town Office employee Marilyn Pinette said. “It is just so awesome he can do this, and we love seeing him every week.”
From there, it’s off to TD Bank. On the way, Pelletier and Hill make sure all is well on the route.
“Everything look good to you, Ethan?” Pelletier asks as Hill looks intently out the car’s window.
“Good,” Hill replies, waving to people they pass.
“You know what? I think we learn more from Ethan than he ever could from us,” TD Bank teller Michelle Glasscock said when Hill delivered the town’s deposits. “He is the only truly happy person I have ever met.”
After admiring Hill’s new jacket, Glasscock disappeared to the back of the bank to find a “treasure” for him.
“We bend our gratuity rules for Ethan,” Pelletier said with a laugh as the teller came back with a notepad and calculator for Hill.
Hill, meanwhile, was leaning with one elbow on the bank tellers’ counter, one foot cocked behind the other and his other hand hitched in his belt — a perfect imitation of Pelletier.
“There — now you have a notepad, just like the chief,” she said. “You can write down all the things like he does.”
From the bank, the two walked over to neighboring Paradis’ Shop ’n Save, where it seemed everyone in the store knew Ethan.
For his part, Hill made sure everyone with whom he came in contact was properly introduced to Pelletier and Plourde.
“We love seeing him come in here on Wednesdays,” Kay Paradis said before turning to talk to Hill. “Look at your new jacket. That looks great.”
Over the course of the hour, the two officers also stopped in at Acadia Federal Credit Union, Stevie D’s Panini Plus and did a drive-by to make sure all was calm around the town’s elementary and high schools.
“Hey, Ethan,” one of his classmates called out after seeing him pull up in the squad car. “Are you working hard or hardly working?”
Soon, there was a small knot of students clustered around the passenger side window of Pelletier’s squad car, bantering with Hill.
“You know what? We never get a negative reaction, no matter where we go,” Plourde said. “Even our toughest kids are so great to him.”
At Stevie D’s, Hill collected another “gratuity” of a chocolate chip cookie.
“He just has so much positive and good energy,” Stevie D’s chef Ruth Roy said. “What he is doing is life-changing, and not just for him but for everyone he comes in contact with.”
Plourde agreed Hill’s weekly stint with the police chief has been life-changing for the young man.
“His speech skills have really improved, and he is just more confident in everything he does,” Plourde said. “He is expressing himself better and getting along better at school.”
Bringing Hill on patrol around town takes about an hour or two out of Pelletier’s often busy and hectic schedule, but the police chief says it’s time well-spent for several reasons.
“It’s good for the community to see that police have a human side,” he said. “And look at Ethan. This takes maybe an hour out of my day, but look at the smile on his face.”
People in Fort Kent seem to be benefit as well, Pelletier said.
“I met a lady in a parking lot when I was with Ethan a while back,” he said. “Two days later, she stopped me and had tears in her eyes and told me she had not been having a good day that day. But when she saw the two of us, it really made her day improve.”
Improving peoples’ day is job No. 1 for Ethan.
“For that, I will find that hour every week,” Pelletier said.
