Oxford County Sheriff-elect Wayne Gallant said Tuesday that Dane Tripp would be the next chief deputy.

Tripp, 61, of Poland, a corporal with the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, is currently serving as a school resource officer at Sacopee Valley High School in Hiram.

“He is a well-liked and well-respected professional,” Gallant said of Tripp. “He’s a community-policing-type officer and will help us to be more visible in a positive way in the community.”

On Tuesday, Tripp said he was honored and pleased to be offered the post and had accepted it.

“When my wife and I got home the other day (after Gallant offered him the post) we sat and talked for awhile, and I thought maybe we should call him back up and see if this was real or if this was Memorex,” Tripp said.

He said he looked forward to an orderly and smooth transition of sheriffs. He said he didn’t expect any difficulties as new roles for the 12 officers within the department are sorted out in 2007.

“I think we are all men, and we know what our roles are,” Tripp said. “The graceful thing to do is do as we’ve always done and try to get along. This is a community we work for and work with, it’s a small community – the sheriff’s department – and that community expands every time we go on a call. We have to look at it that we are servants of the people, we are not there to serve ourselves.”

He said he doesn’t plan to move to Oxford County.

Tripp’s 26 years in law enforcement, his experience serving two tours in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine from 1965 to 1969, his background as a Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer and school resource officer, and experience as a trainer at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy solidified his decision, Gallant said. Tripp is also a self-defense instructor for the academy and served 22 weeks as an academy drill instructor. He is also the self-defense instructor for the Sheriff’s Office.

“He has a lot of experience working with the public,” Gallant said. “I just felt he would be the man who would compliment some of the things I want to do quite well.”

Gallant said Tripp has also been heavily involved in Special Olympics Maine’s annual Law Enforcement Torch Run and has also been inducted into the Special Olympics Hall of Fame for his volunteer efforts over the years.

That Tripp was already a deputy within the department was also beneficial, Gallant said.

Tripp has been with the Sheriff’s Office for 15 years, and prior to that he served as an officer and a detective with the Paris Police Department.

“He knows the deputies well, and the community knows him well,” Gallant said.

He and Tripp have never served in the same department but have worked cooperatively over the years, Gallant said.

For much of his career Tripp worked for outgoing Sheriff Lloyd “Skip” Herrick of Paris. Prior to being elected sheriff in 1990, Herrick was the chief of police in Paris and hired Tripp to work there in 1981. Tripp served first as an officer and later a detective and followed Herrick to the Sheriff’s Office.

After four terms as sheriff, Herrick decided to retire and did not seek re-election.

Tripp will take over the second-in-command post from Lt. Christopher Wainwright after Gallant, a 58-year-old Democrat from Rumford, is sworn in as sheriff in January. Wainwright, 35, was the Republican candidate for the Sheriff’s Office and was endorsed by Herrick.

Both Wainwright and Herrick said Wainwright’s next assignment in the department was uncertain and would be left to Gallant, but Gallant said he hoped Herrick would reassign Wainwright prior to January.

Gallant also said he had not heard from Herrick yet regarding the transition of the office, so was unsure what might transpire in the next few weeks.

“I have no idea what his intent is,” Gallant said. “I would think he would want to reassign him (Wainwright) prior to my arrival.”

Wainwright said he planned to assume his former job as a lieutenant who’s primary responsibility is overseeing road patrol. “I’ll go back to lieutenant, unless he (Gallant) has other plans for me,” Wainwright said.

When he appointed Wainwright to chief deputy, Herrick said he was leaving Wainwright’s former position open until after the election.