FARMINGTON — Police Chief Edward “Ted” Blais completed his work at the University of Maine at Farmington on Monday and will begin working as Skowhegan’s police chief June 17.

Blais said he saw the ad for the Skowhegan position and decided to apply. He likes the town and will move there, he said.

During an interview, “we (Skowhegan Selectmen and Blais) seemed to really connect and were on the same wavelength, so I decided to try it,” he added.

Blais will lead 14 full-time officers and other personnel in Skowhegan, he said. He identified the department as similar in size to the Farmington Police Department and the town’s population around the same as that of Farmington.

The position at UMF as director of Public Safety was his first “chief” job. He’s been there eight years.

“It was a great place to learn what that name, chief of a small department, really means,” he said. “It’s unique — a department set in the middle of town.”

Blais said he’s worked with a great group of officers over those years.

“When I came here, I started changing things left and right,” he said. “They didn’t mutiny on me. Every day, I’ve tried to make the place more professional and experienced.”

During his tenure, the Police Department has moved three times on campus.

The thing he’ll miss the most is “the students, by far,” he said. “It’s been neat to watch young people grow into adults.”

Many of those students were from Skowhegan, and he was impressed with them, he said.

The campus Public Safety Department employs about 35 students. Some serve in the office, answering phones and waiting on people who walk in.

Others serve at night, escorting students around the campus to ensure their safety or help out as event security at dances and concerts.

They police their own, he said.

Before coming to UMF, Blais worked for the Gorham Police Department for 20 years, serving in almost every position except chief, he said.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Northeastern University and a master’s degree in criminal justice in 1995 from Western New England University in Springfield, Mass. He said he’s always enjoyed taking classes, including some at UMF in political science.

Blais also taught a civil liberties class at Central Maine Community College in Auburn.

He was invited to the FBI National Academy in 2011 to attend a professional course of study for law enforcement executives at their facility in Quantico, Va.  According to the FBI’s website, less than 1 percent of police officers in the country are accepted into the “by invitation only” competitive program.

In observance of his last day, many on campus gathered for a lunchtime get-together Monday at noon. He was pleased with how many came to say goodbye, he said.

While the department was fortunate not to have too many major crimes, other than the occasional sexual assault, on the small-town college campus, Blais did remember some interesting highlights of his tenure at UMF. Those included an art project where the American flag covered the floors of the University’s student center and the coed topless parade down Main Street in 2010.

“Don’t think I’ll run into something like that again,” he said.

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