The Skowhegan Police Department
Katie Pullyard and Ashley Pelletier-Elm Team

After interviewing Skowhegan Police Chief Butch Asselin, we learned a lot and would like to share this with you .
      Butch Asselin started working at the Skowhegan PD in 1975. When he started, there were only 13 people working in the department. During his first year, he said that basically they dealt with similar issues as they do today, drunk drivers & drugs. However,Butch says he notices a big change in the type of drugs being used in the area. Back then, drugs called marijuana and PCP were the most prevalent. Now, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine are a very big problem.
     In 1975, officers attended to property issues such as trespassing and the fixing of rattling doors on the stores. They do not do these types of things anymore because they just don’t have the time.
     The location of the Skowhegan PD has remained the same over the years. However, it was much smaller back in 1975. They once had two old jail cells in the office where they would keep prisoners. One of those jail cells is now used at the town celebration called “Moonlight Madness.”
      We were told that when an officer was out working around town, there would be a key on each building . The officer would carry a clock-like object in the car with him. When he would arrive at a destination, he would put the key into a hole at the top of the clock, and it would put a little mark on a paper inside of it. That way the Chief would know that they were doing what they needed to do at the assigned time.
When a new person was hired, the Chief would ride with him and tell him what to do. Today there are special people that train the new- comers.
The PD was once involved with the Safety Guard program. This program included chosen kids that would help before and after school. They would help other children cross the street before and after school.
     When people in the community needed help, they would call 9-1-1 and the police would be contacted. The police would then call the fire department and a siren would go off. The the siren would alert the police out in the town that they needed to call the chief and find out what they needed to do. There were different signals for different types of problems.
     This interview really helped us understand the role of a police officer and also taught us about the history of the department. Thanks Butch.