FARMINGTON — Brock Caton of Farmington was sworn in Tuesday as sergeant for the University of Maine at Farmington Police Department.
Caton, 31, took the oath of office from Dedimus Justice Paul Mills of Farmington as Chief Ted Blais, UMF President Kathryn A. Foster and W. Celeste Branham, vice president for Student and Community Services, watched.
Sgt. Caton succeeds Dean Hart who retired this summer.
Caton started with the department Oct. 1, working from 4 p.m. to midnight. He has become familiar with the position as well as residence life, and has taken the opportunity to meet everyone before being sworn in.
A good part of his work takes place within the residence halls.
“Our patrol area is inside buildings,” Chief Blais said.
Meeting students “where they live” provides an opportunity for the officers to get to know them in an informal, non-confrontational setting, Blais explained.
While on duty, Sgt. Caton will also assist town officers during the night. It’s a mutual agreement with town police to back up campus officers when needed.
Caton began his law enforcement career with the Livermore Falls Police Department and attended the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.
He recently completed a position with the Maine National Guard Counterdrug Task Force. He served as a criminal intelligence analyst working with the Maine State Police. Funding for the position was cut, curtailing his work. The opportunity at UMF came at the right time, he said.
He has served the Army National Guard for 15 years, seeing deployment to Iraq for 14 months and Afghanistan for 12 months, he said.
Caton follows a family mostly dedicated to law enforcement. His father, the late Richard Caton III, served as Farmington’s police chief from 1998 until his death in 2010. The new station for the department was named after him.
His twin brother, Richard Caton IV, is a detective with the Jay Police Department and his mother, Melinda Caton, is a dispatch supervisor at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. His grandfather was also employed by the Sheriff’s Department, he said.
Caton and his wife, Nissa, have a daughter, Amara, 4, and a son, Lennox, 6 months.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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- Brock Caton of Farmington, center, officially joined the University of Maine at Farmington Police Department as a sergeant on Tuesday. From left are Dedimus Justice Paul Mills of Farmington, UMF President Kathryn A. Foster, Caton, UMF police Chief Ted Blais and F. Celeste Branham, vice president for Student and Community Services.
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- Brock Caton of Farmington, right, is sworn in as sergeant for the University of Maine at Farmington Police Department on Tuesday by Paul Mills, dedimus justice, of Farmington.
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- Brock Caton of Farmington, center, was sworn in as sergeant of the University of Maine at Farmington Police Department on Tuesday. From left are Dedimus Justice Paul Mills, UMF President Kathryn A. Foster, Caton, UMF police Chief Ted Blais and W. Celeste Branham, vice president for Student and Community Services.
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