WILTON – A slight Southern accent couldn’t hide the enthusiasm as Maine native Alfred Cooper IV spoke about returning to the state as a patrolman on the Wilton Police Department.

Cooper likes outdoor sports, riding motorcycles and is excited about snowmobiling and skiing again. He said Maine was the reason he decided to make the move back. He had been looking for a position in Maine when he found the advertised opening in Wilton.

Cooper grew up in the Katadin area and attended Lee Academy before going to Tocoa Falls College in Georgia. After graduation, he stayed in Georgia and was self-employed working on computers with contracted jobs with Verizon, he said Monday.

In 2000, he applied for an opening on the Culpeper Police Department in Virginia and moved there where he then attended the police academy. He started as a patrolman but for the past two years has been working with Special Operations providing patrol on a motorcycle.

Cooper, his wife and two sons, AJ and Nathan, will be moving to Wilton, and he has already started looking at houses, he said.

After a test at the Police Academy, Cooper will begin his duties in Wilton as of April 29. He had just completed three days training last week with Farmington Detective Marc Bowering on Maine laws and codes, most of which are quite similar to the Virginia laws, he said. Wilton police Chief Dennis Brown went through a similar training when he started in Wilton.

“It’s just a courtesy gesture that we’ve provided to help Wilton get through their situation,” said Farmington police Chief Richard Caton as he spoke about the training received in Farmington.

Last month, three Wilton police officers retired or resigned after an internal investigation and their administrative suspension from the department. Cooper will replace an officer who resigned earlier in January.

Cooper said he wants to focus on getting to know people, doing some foot patrol with door checks on downtown businesses and other problem areas the department has realized. He hopes, he said, to help build a police department that will serve Wilton residents and make them proud.