Name: Scott Nichols

Address: Mile Hill Road,

New Sharon

Age: 50

Occupation: Police chief Carrabassett Valley, retired Maine State Police sergeant, former adviser to the Iraq national police.

Education: Graduate Mt. Blue High School in 1979; associate degree in law enforcement technology, Southern Maine Technical College.

FARMINGTON — Scott Nichols of New Sharon will run against Thomas White of Jay on Tuesday, June 12, to become the Republican candidate for the position of sheriff of Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.

The winner will face Sheriff Dennis Pike of Farmington, who is seeking re-election to the position in the November election.

Nichols, the current police chief of Carrabassett Valley, and retired Maine State Police sergeant, said that part of his campaign platform is to “change the way the sheriff’s office currently provides patrol coverage to the county. I want to concentrate on making the sheriff’s office more proactive stopping crime rather than reactive. My plan to increase officer presence is a combination of common sense and technology.”

He would use a computer system called patrol scan, and proposes to place watch-battery sized disks throughout the county in areas where you usually do not see a lot of patrol coverage, he said.

Using the patrol scan system and having disks set up at dozens of “off the main road” locations throughout the county, deputies would have to travel to those areas on a regular basis to scan the disks using a data collection wand that records the time and date the deputy was there, he said.

The method forces patrol officers off the beaten path and increases visibility, Nichols said.

He also proposes to install a “Text a Tip” program and would like to see the call-sharing agreement strengthened between county deputies and state troopers by forming teams to work together in north and south areas simultaneously.

“As sheriff, you will see me and my command staff patrolling with the field deputies during times where additional manpower is required. This more than doubles manpower without added expense,” Nichols said.

In regard to the proposed new dispatch center, Nichols said the center is necessary. He serves on the county’s building committee on the project.

“Law enforcement and public safety have changed dramatically over the past decade and the dispatch center has not been kept up to date. It does not meet any state or national standards for dispatch centers and it is overcrowded,” Nichols said. “Dispatch is the foundation of any good public safety program, as the dispatchers are the true ‘first responders on scene.’ Our dispatchers need to be able to work in a safe and secure environment which is up to date with the best in training and equipment. The new dispatch center is a necessary first step to making sure that the citizens of Franklin County can be assured that they will receive the absolute best response for whatever emergency comes along.”

The new dispatch center will help assure the citizens of Franklin County that their emergency calls will be handled at a local public safety answering point rather than having that service done by the state, at a very significant increase in cost, he said.

Nichols also believes that in a “perfect world,” the county would be much better off running its own jail facility.

“However the reality is we have to deal with the existing law that was enacted by the 123rd Legislature. The law established the Board of Corrections, a spending cap of $1.6 million and changed the mission statement of our jail limiting us to just a 72-hour holding facility,” Nichols said. “It allowed other jails in the state to remain open with the understanding that they would accept prisoners from jails such as Franklin’s. This has not been happening on a regular basis.”

He has been attending Board of Corrections meetings and said it realizes that the plan is not working as it was presented and it has hired consultants to review the issues and recommended changes.

“There has been no talk of overturning the current law and we will not be allowed to opt out of it. It would take more than our own representatives fighting on our behalf; it would take the entire Maine Legislature to overturn this law. I don’t see the will to do that,” Nichols said. “We will have to work within the framework of the law to improve our operations and fight to have at least an inmate residency program where we could utilize prisoner services to the benefit of our municipalities which simultaneously reduces their jail sentences.”

Nichols, a native of Farmington, believes his years of experience in law enforcement and military service, and his stint as adviser to the Iraqi National Police, will benefit him as sheriff.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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