OXFORD — If you are out and about in Oxford between 6 pm and 6 am, you might run into Patrolman Jarrod Wiswell. Wiswell, 44 of Brownfield, joined the Oxford Police Department full time last August.

A Navy brat, Wiswell traveled the globe with his family until he was 11. In 1986 his father retired and they settled in Naples, where he graduated from Lake Region High School.

“My class,” he recalls, “was one of the first to take the law enforcement program at Oxford Hills Technical School. George Watkins, a retired detective from Sanford Police Department, was our instructor.”

After high school, Wiswell says, he joined the workforce. Between 1997 and 2004 he served as a reserve officer with the Bridgton Police Department. In 2004 he moved over to the Maine Judicial Marshall Service, working at the Bridgton District Court until last August when he became a full time officer at OPD.

But to back up a bit, until now, he says, he never worked just one job. Covering a gamut of public service rolls, Wiswell also worked for United Ambulance in Bridgton as an EMT and on the Bridgton Fire Department’s dive and rescue team. Before joining Oxford full time he put in more than three tears as a reserve officer there.

Why law enforcement?

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“Tom Harriman got me into law enforcement,” he says. Harriman is currently the Fire Chief in Bridgton, a position he accepted after retiring from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office as an investigator in its CID division. It was while he was in the workforce, Wiswell recalls, that Harriman used to take him on ride-alongs.

“He is the reason I am in law enforcement now.”

Wiswell has been trained in interview and interrogation techniques, active shooter response, civil rights officer, Tazer use, firearms, radar and domestic violence investigation. He is certified in both open and cold water rescue, Firefighter I and basic EMT.

In May Wiswell will attend the Maine Criminal Justice Academy for 18 weeks, as required for all full time officers.

He says he loves working the overnight shift. “There’s a uniqueness to it … the variety of calls is different [than days].”

“I really enjoy working here,” he says, “the guys are great.”

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Wiswell is married to Amie and has four children – Logan, 28; Leeann, 22; Patrick, 11 and Riley, 5. In his spare time he says he enjoys playing sports with his kids, catching up on things at home and reading to his daughter.

Oh, and sleeping.

 

Oxford Police Department Patrolman Jarrod Wiswell A.M. Sheehan Buy this Photo

 


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