VASSALBORO, Maine — Maine’s 14 newest troopers received their badges Friday in ceremonies at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.
The new troopers completed 10 weeks of specialized Maine State Police training and will patrol with a veteran trooper before patrolling on their own.
Maine State Police still has 25 trooper vacancies out of its 330-person force, even with the new troopers and seven more who are continuing their training at the academy.
Col. Robert Williams, chief of the Maine State Police, administered the oath of office.
“You embark on a journey few have taken, and will be called upon to do the unthinkable and see things that no one should. All because you have committed yourself to serve as guardians for the people of Maine,” Williams said, according to a news release. “Unlike other professions, there is no on and off duty. You are always a trooper.”
The new troopers are:
— Richard Spicer of Alfred, assigned to Troop A in York County. Spicer served 10 years with the Coast Guard and is serving as a maritime enforcement specialist first class in the Coast Guard Reserve.
—Sander Cowie of Casco, assigned to Troop B in Cumberland, Oxford and Androscoggin counties. Cowie graduated from Fryeburg Academy in 2000 and the University of Massachusetts in 2005. He serves as a medic in the Rhode Island National Guard.
— Patrick Flanagan from Pembroke, New Hampshire, assigned to Troop B in Cumberland, Oxford and Androscoggin counties. He is a graduate of Pembroke Academy and Husson University. Flanagan resides in Portland and serves as a second lieutenant in the Army National Guard.
— Tyler Plourde of Woolwich, assigned to Troop B in Cumberland, Oxford and Androscoggin counties. Plourde graduated from Mt. Ararat High School in 2005 and from Colby College in 2009. Before being hired by the Maine State Police, he worked as an English teacher at the Hyde School in Bath and was an underwriter at Unum Insurance in Portland.
— Eric Bronson of Madison, assigned to Troop C in Somerset and Kennebec counties. Bronson has served as a police officer for the Madison Police Department and as a deputy for the Kennebec Sheriff’s Office. Bronson is a graduate of Lawrence High School and Kennebec Valley Community College.
— Eric Ward of Wilton, assigned to Troop C in Somerset and Kennebec counties. He grew up in Davenport, Iowa, and graduated from Davenport Central High School in 1991. He attended the University of Dubuque in Iowa. Ward has worked as a police officer for two police departments in Iowa, and also for the Auburn Maine Police Department.
— Jacob Roddy of Belgrade, assigned to Troop C in Somerset and Kennebec counties. Roddy graduated from Messalonskee High School in 2011 and from the University of Maine at Augusta in 2015.
— Toral Nelson of Holden, assigned to Troop E in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. Nelson graduated from Brewer High School in 2011 and from Thomas College in 2015.
— Cooper Plaisted of Hampden, assigned to Troop E in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. Plaisted is a 2009 graduate of Hampden Academy and a 2013 graduate from the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Before being hired by Maine State Police, Plaisted worked as a police officer at the Rockport Police Department.
— Matthew Curtin, of Brockton, Massachusetts, assigned to Troop F in Aroostook County. He earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Massasoit Community College in 2013. Curtin resides in St. John Plantation.
— Patrick Pescitelli of West Babylon, New York, assigned to Troop F in Aroostook County. He graduated from West Babylon High School in 2012 and from Husson University in 2016.
— Travis Chapman of Bucksport, assigned to Troop J in Hancock and Washington counties. He graduated from Bucksport High School in 2011, and earned an associate degree from Beal College in 2014.
— Owen Reed of Castine, assigned to Troop J in Hancock and Washington counties. He graduated from Maine Maritime Academy in 2010. Reed has served as a Maine Marine Patrol Officer for the past five years.
— Blaine Silk of Orono, assigned to Troop J in Hancock and Washington counties. He graduated from Orono High School in 2009. Silk served as a deputy with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and is a member of the Air National Guard.