SABATTUS — Jerry Hinton is building a resume as a small-town chief for rent.

After spending 15 years as the police chief in Brunswick, the New Hampshire native worked for four months as the police chief in Richmond, completed two, four-month stints as Monmouth’s chief and just started as Sabattus’ interim chief of police.

His role in Sabattus is twofold. One part is keeping up with the supervisory duties of running a modest police force. The other is finding a permanent chief to succeed Thomas Fales, who led the department for nearly 18 years.

Hinton is planning a hiring campaign that includes print and electronic ads, face-to-face interviews and background checks for applicants. He hopes to be done in three or four months.

Then the 65-year-old cop, who first pinned on a badge when Richard Nixon was president, figures to move on to another assignment, either as a chief or a teacher.

“I have a lot left in me, I think,” Hinton said. “If you enjoy what you’re doing, you ought to keep doing it.”

Hinton began working as a police officer in 1972 in Portsmouth.

He worked his way up from beat cop to detective to commander of detectives before retiring there in 1993. That same year, he moved to Brunswick and took over as the town’s chief.

He was there only a few years before he became involved in the Maine Chiefs of Police Association. Eventually, he became a teacher, working with officers across Maine. When he left the Brunswick police in 2008, he stayed on working with the association. And he was hired by Central Intelligence, a Kennebunk management and private investigative firm.

His first job was in Richmond.

Working as a small-town chief is different than in a larger Maine community such as Brunswick. It’s more than simply scale.

Giving officers the opportunity to specialize and experience training is tougher in small communities. And the relationship between the department and the community, particularly for the chief, is different, too.

In a town the size of Lewiston or Auburn, the position can be similar to running a business, Hinton said.

“You tend to get buried in paperwork and administration,” he said.

In a small town, the chief becomes an approachable leader of the department, often scrutinized by selectmen and townspeople.

“You’re more answerable to the public,” he said.

His current schedule in Sabattus has him serving part time or about 20 hours per week. But the time in the office is supported with emails and phone calls to his home in Brunswick.

It worked well in Monmouth, said Town Manager Curt Lunt. On Monday, he praised Hinton’s professionalism and knowledge.

“He knows his stuff,” Lunt said. “He knows absolutely everybody, and he’s straight as an arrow.”

And, in Monmouth, he brought a level of maturity to a police force with several officers still in their 20s.

“He gave us adult supervision,” Lunt said, joking.

Hinton likes to work with young officers, coaching them to treat people with respect, he said.

“I enjoy helping this profession grow in the right way,” he said.

Young officers often think of the part of the job that means breaking up a fight in a bar, he said. And he’ll help train officers to deal with those instances.

But he focuses on indoctrinating officers with a respect for the public.

He asks officers to think of their family members — mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers — and treat everyone with the respect they would wish upon their own family.

“If they do that for the public, we’re going to win them.”

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