Heroes come in many shapes and forms.

In Farmington, there are many, but one stands out to people all over the community. Farmington Police Officer Bridgette Gilbert, who was named as the Police Officer of the year, is a role model to many people all over Franklin County.

Officer Gilbert began her career as a police dispatcher at the Somerset County Sheriffs Department in 1994. In 1995, Gilbert began training at the reserve police academy, which led to a full time patrol position with the Pittsfield Police Department. As of 1998, she attended the 86th Municipal County Basic Police School, and began working with the Farmington Police Department in 2000.

While Officer Gilbert has had many different experiences as a Police Officer, she currently has the added responsibility of being the Resource Officer at Mt. Blue High School. As the resource officer, it is her job to keep the security of the school as her top priority, but her job extends much farther.

Every day she handles students who many be in need of legal help, but also many that just need a friendly person to talk to. Officer Gilbert provides much to the high school community, counseling students on good decision making and just being a shoulder to lean on whenever possible.

When asked what it is like to be a school resource officer, Gilbert said “It is a great community here at Mt. Blue, and we only have a handful of students that do bad things, but I keep in mind that they are juveniles. They need more counseling or just for people to show them that they care, and that they want to help them.”

When asked about her greatest accomplishments as a law enforcement officer, she said that it was simply “building relationships with people. Whether it’s here with the students, the staff, or people on the street. People have learned to know me and trust me, and I think that’s a huge accomplishment because for whatever reason, people tend not to like us. I think I’ve done a really good job of showing people that I’m a down to earth person, too.”

Gilbert stated that she feels she has the best of both worlds, working patrol in the summer, and working with students at the high school during the year. She feels that she was chosen as Police Officer of the Year for a few reasons.

“I set goals for myself, and I achieve those goals. I feel it is also because of the work I do here. I work really hard, and I’m dedicated to this job.”

In September, Gilbert was given the Mt. Blue High School Service Award for the 2014-2015 school year. She also said that is is very exciting to be Police Officer of the Year.

“It is humbling to receive an award like that. It makes me feel good that people recognize me for working hard and for being dedicated. It’s incentive to keep pushing forward, and to keep being the best that I can be. It’s not that I need anything like that at all, it’s just nice to be recognized.”

Officer Gilbert was also recognized this month by the Maine State Senate for being Police Officer of the Year. She is also currently attending Central Maine Community College, majoring in criminal justice. Gilbert says that she will be retiring in five years, but plans to pursue another full time job in the criminal justice field.