DIXFIELD — A veteran of the Dover Police Department in Massachusetts has accepted the job of town police chief, Town Manager Dustin Starbuck said.

Aaron Mick, 58, has served the town of about 6,000 residents southwest of Boston since November 1986, and has held the position of sergeant since 1998.

Starbuck said he hopes Mick will begin his new duties within the next month.

He is “excited to be coming, and we’re excited to have him, the town manager said. “I hope that brings some stability to the force and we’re looking for good things coming from that.”

Mick’s one-year probationary contract includes a $54,000 salary and benefits that include paid vacation, holidays, health insurance, short-term disability and a 457 retirement plan with matching employer contributions.

Starbuck added, “He can start working for us, but within a year, he’s got to meet certain goals set by the academy, including a very intensive test on all Maine laws, in order to be a police chief in Maine.”

Edward Tolan, executive director of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, helped town officials in their search for a chief. Tolan, Starbuck and Selectman Peter Holman interviewed Mick.

“I think he’s an excellent candidate,” said Tolan, a retired police chief with the Falmouth Police Department. “Everything I saw was as good as you could find in a candidate.”

Tolan said he met with the Dover police chief for more than two hours.

“He had nothing but positive things to say about Sgt. Mick. He’s well respected in the community, well respected in the department, well liked,” Tolan told the Select Board at their July 22 meeting when Mick was chosen to be chief.

Tolan said Mick told him he wanted to come to Dixfield because he and his wife have had a camp in Poland for years.

“He wants to retire from Massachusetts and come to Maine,” Tolan said.

As a patrolman, Mick taught numerous schools, parents, civic groups and law enforcement agencies internet safety and digital evidence collection and preservation.

As a sergeant, Mick was the officer in charge in the chief’s absence, oversaw daily operations, conducted investigations, followed up on reports, supervised the traffic division, kept up on crash and citation data, budget review, community policing, and wrote and maintained department rules, regulations and policies.

Starbuck said Mick’s arrival will bring the department back to its full complement of four officers for the first time since longtime Chief Jeff Howe resigned March 14 to join the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office.

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net

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