DIXFIELD — The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted Monday evening to approve the nomination of Benjamin S. Gaudet as the Police Department’s new lieutenant.

Police Chief Jeff Howe said Gaudet “has been with us for about a week now, and he’s learning the area and our system.”

Howe, who served as lieutenant for the department before Police Chief Richard Pickett retired on Jan. 30, said Gaudet had “an excellent background in law enforcement” and would “be a fantastic addition to our staff.”

Chairman Hart Daley asked Gaudet to share some of his police background with selectmen and residents.

Gaudet said that prior to being hired as lieutenant for Dixfield, he worked in Dover-Foxcroft as a special agent with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

“I also worked at a police agency in Georgia for three and a half years, and at the Carrabassett (Valley) Police Department for a little over 10 years,” he said.

Daley asked Gaudet whether he had found a home in Dixfield yet.

“I currently have a home in Kingfield, but I’m driving around and trying to find something a little closer to Dixfield right now,” Gaudet said.

“With the lieutenant position filled, it puts us back with a full staff,” Howe said. “That means we can enter the final year of the COPS grant program.”

The Police Department received a federal COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) grant in 2011, providing funding for a fifth police officer for three years, and in return, the town would agree to pay the salary of the officer for the fourth year.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

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