LEWISTON – When police Chief William Welch retires at the beginning of May, his replacement will have to move just 20 feet down the hall.

The city administrator Tuesday night appointed Deputy Chief Michael Bussiere to serve as interim chief when Welch retires May 1.

For a time, City Administrator Jim Bennett had explored the idea of having Auburn police Chief Phil Crowell oversee departments in both cities.

The overwhelming consensus among Lewiston police officers and others, however, convinced him that Bussiere would best provide a seamless transition to the next police administration.

“We support Mike Bussiere as the interim chief as well as the permanent chief,” said Officer Tom Murphy, president of the patrol union. “It was a very good decision. He’s a good leader and a fair one. There is not an officer here who would say otherwise.”

For Bussiere, the matter of taking over the top position is a simple one, a variation of the adage that if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

“I’m obviously biased,” Bussiere said. “I think the Lewiston Police Department is the best in the state. As interim chief, I’ll be looking to keep it that way.”

For the past 6 years, he has served as second in command, Welch’s deputy chief who sits just a door away. As deputy chief, Bussiere was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations in the three department divisions: criminal investigation, patrol and support services.

A 19-year veteran of the force, for the past half dozen years, Bussiere worked alongside Welch as he established new programs and policies. The department is still enjoying forward momentum initiated by Welch, he said.

“I like the direction we’re going in,” Bussiere said. “We’ve done a lot of good things together and I’m going to keep doing those types of things.”

That’s not to say Bussiere doesn’t have projects in mind. For one, he wants to get back to the essence of cooperation between police and the community, expanding on existing downtown partnerships and developing new ones.

“We really need to get back to community policing,” Bussiere said.

Welch, chief since 1998, announced last month that he would retire in May. The city is expected to name a permanent chief by August after reviewing possible candidates.

In the meantime, as Bussiere assumes the interim role, he will have no second in command – no deputy chief will be named during the interim status.

“I’m going to rely on my top lieutenants to pick up a lot of that work load,” Bussiere said. “We have a lot of good, veteran officers here. We’ll keep our nose to the grindstone. We’ll be just fine.”