The state police’s most decorated officer is recognized for his heroics on the beat and work as an administrator.
By Mark LaFlamme
Staff Writer

Retired State Police Col. Andrew Demers has entered burning homes to save hostages from armed men. He has felt bullets whip past his ear or slam into the ground in front of him. The former state police chief has saved lives and seen civilians and fellow cops die.

Demers also has chatted with the president of the United States, hung out with the director of the Secret Service and had dinners with baseball great Ted Williams. He did all this while amassing an array of awards over a career that spanned a quarter century.

Demers is the kind of a man people regard as a legend. And now it’s official.

The most decorated officer in State Police history, Demers was named this week as a “Legendary Trooper.” The distinction is handed out only once a year to retired troopers deemed to be “legends in their own time.”

Nobody seems to dispute that Demers qualifies.

“He saw a lot of things over the course of his career,” said current state police Chief Col. Michael Sperry. “A wide variety of things happened while he was here. He had a long, rich career.”

A Lewiston native, Demers began his police work in that city in 1962, walking a Lisbon Street beat known as “the Bowery.” At the time, it was regarded as the most violent part of the city. It was where a new cop was sent to cut his teeth.

“I started by walking that beat. I learned a lot down there,” said Demers, now 62 and retired with awards and commendations too numerous to list.

He joined the state police in 1967. In 1969, he was named Trooper of the Year. He won the same award in 1970. From there, it was a rise through the ranks, more awards and adventures Demers can still tell with utter clarity.

He helped protect former President George Bush, coordinated security at strikes and rallies and was featured on a national TV show about a 1986 shoot-out in Bowdoinham. Demers remembers the shootout very well.

“It was the type of call that sends chills up your spine. It doesn’t matter how much experience you have,” Demers said.

An armed man had gone to the home of his ex-wife and taken the woman and their child hostage. The woman was shot in the back but managed to crawl from the house. Meanwhile, Demers and other cops surrounded the house.

“He continued to shoot at us periodically,” Demers recalled. “You could hear bullets whizzing through the trees.”

Demers at the time was involved with the State Police tactical team and hostage negotiations. He was scouting out the scene and trying to determine the best move.

“I was moving from one tree to another,” he said. “Suddenly, a bullet slammed into the dirt maybe six inches in front of my feet. It’s the closest I ever got to getting hit.”

It got worse. The gunman inside the house set the building on fire. It was up in flames and firemen were trying to battle the blaze, putting themselves in the line of fire.

Demers made a decision to go in. He and another officer went in first with two men coming in at their heels.

“I felt a woosh behind me. I later found out the roof had fallen. The other two men weren’t able to enter the house with us,” Demers said.

In the end, police found that the gunman had shot himself. He later died at a hospital. The man’s ex-wife and child both survived the ordeal. Demers was given the State Police bravery award for his actions.

The same year, Demers was involved in a shootout in Appleton with a World War II veteran who was convinced he was still on the battlefield. Shots were fired, but police managed to get the man out with the use of a concussion grenade, used to startle the suspect.

Demers entered the house at about the same time the grenade did.

“The blast went off right near my head,” Demers said.

He lost partial hearing in both ears and had to wear hearing aids after the incident. He was later given the Colonel’s Award for his efforts to end the standoff.

In 1991, Demers went to Toronto to participate in, and appear on, the CBS program “Top Cops,” in an episode that details the Bowdoinham incident.

When Sperry spoke of Demers’ career Friday, he did not focus so much on the officer’s adventures on the beat or the assignments he worked. Sperry mostly commended Demers for updating the State Police force firearms from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols; for providing bulletproof vests to all officers and for sharing his experience with others in the department.

“His contributions to training were enormous,” Sperry said.

Demers served as chief of State Police from 1987 until 1993. Now officially deemed a legend, he lives in New Gloucester with his wife, Patricia.

The excitement in his voice while he talks about his long career softens when he remembers the darker things. The victims of violence or accidents and his fallen comrades. Three of his fellow State Police officers died while Demers was on the force – one was shot, one died in a car crash and another suffered a heart attack while jogging.

“It was an exciting career. Every day was an adventure. But there were tragedies, too,” Demers said. “Those are the things you never forget.”

mlaflamme@sunjournal.com

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