Standish leads the way with Community Policing Deputy

Deputy Paul Pettengill has only been in his new position as Standish Community Policing Deputy for two weeks, but that’s long enough for him to know he enjoys it.

“It’s wonderful,” Pettengill said. “I’m really looking forward to getting involved with the community – to actually get involved and make a difference.”

As the fifth deputy contracted by the town of Standish with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, and the first Community Policing Deputy in the area, Pettengill’s position calls for him to pursue “new and non-traditional ways to solve problems.”

“My responsibility will be to proactively work with the community to help identify and solve these problems,” Pettengill said, “working towards combating crime and improving the overall quality of life.”

According to Captain William Rhoads of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Standish is being forward thinking and proactive in hiring a deputy whose position requires him to interact with and assist local businesses, senior citizens and youth in issues of education and mediation.

Rhoads also believes Pettengill is the right choice to fill this position.

“Paul has done a lot with neighborhoods like mediation and crime watch,” Rhoads said. “He is very community oriented.”

Pettengill has been in law enforcement for 11 years, patrolling Standish for the past five. As he works to help the community, he plans to use a practical approach, focusing on commonsense ideas and programs to heighten awareness and increase community safety.

With businesses, this may include helping owners identify security problems within their buildings and, together, finding solutions for these problems.

One idea is to initiate an “emergency information source” to assist deputies, firefighters and rescue workers in case of an emergency call. This would include information pertinent to the business such as contacts, security systems, and vulnerable areas of the business.

For Standish’s population of senior citizens, Pettengill would like to “help create a sense of safety and security.” To do this, Pettengill says, homes must be numbered to help emergency personnel find them more easily.

In addition, a special lighting system can be installed to aid workers in finding a house. The system consists of a light bulb, installed in an ordinary outdoor light fixture, that will blink when the switch is turned on, off and then back on.

Another idea to help seniors in the event of an emergency is a senior citizen E-911 class put on by Cumberland County Regional Communications.

Pettengill will also be working with Standish youth “to create a mutual respect to help solve problems.” He will join forces with local firefighters and emergency personnel to initiate educational programs at all grade levels in the area schools.

As part of his message, Pettengill wants to communicate to young people that “law enforcement is not just about stopping cars and arresting bad guys, but that officers are also educators.”

In his role as educator, Pettengill desires to help children prepare for the future and realize their potential by teaching them to protect themselves from preventable injury.

One of the programs he may use to accomplish this is the Risk Watch Safety Program, developed by the National Fire Protection Association and Lowe’s Home Safety Council. This program addresses the eight risk areas that cause the greatest number of injuries and deaths to children each year: motor vehicle safety; fire and burn prevention; choking, suffocation and strangulation prevention; poisoning prevention; falls prevention; firearms injury prevention; bike and pedestrian safety and water safety.

Other programs geared toward youth that Pettengill may incorporate include a Youth E-911 class and an alcohol awareness program for teens, which is a PowerPoint presentation designed by Pettengill.

Another part of Pettengill’s mission is to conduct speed surveys to encourage individuals’ voluntary adherence to posted speed limits with the intent of reducing the number of accidents in Standish.

He would like to man these surveys with community volunteers, trained to use Lazar radar and positioned in a marked patrol car. The volunteers would record the license plate of any speeding vehicle, along with its speed, the time, date, speed limit and vehicle description. Then, after running the plates through the Department of Motor Vehicles, a letter would be mailed to the cars’ owners.

Pettengill and Standish Fire Chief Martin Jordan have already discussed another of Pettengill’s goals: for the Fire Department, Emergency Services, and the Sheriff’s Department to participate in joint training sessions, such as instruction in the use of an Automatic External Defibrillator.

Also on Pettengill’s list is developing a Neighborhood Crime Watch. With this program in place, neighbors “work together as a team to keep themselves, their children and their homes safe and secure.”

“This is a program that has been around for years and has proven time and again its success,” Pettengill said. “Who better (than you) knows your neighborhood?”

For neighborhoods whose members are experiencing conflict with one another, Pettengill proposes a neighborhood intervention program.

“I can work with each person on an individual basis then with a group as a mediator to try to help resolve the issues,” he said.

A goal that Pettengill and Rhoads anticipate working toward is Standish Citizens on Patrol.

Based on Citizens on Patrol, founded in California, it would act as a type of town-wide neighborhood watch group with volunteers trained to provide different services to complement those of local law enforcement officers.

Duties might include watching for suspicious activity and reporting it to authorities, traffic control, checking on business property and the property of those on vacation, patrolling areas that might be experiencing vandalism or graffiti, and offering their services for special events and community functions.

Communities around the country that have implemented Citizen Patrol groups have experienced a 20 percent average reduction in crime.

Pettengill has set high expectations for himself in this new position. But the Standish resident appears up for the challenge and enthusiastic about the precedent Standish has set.

“I think the town of Standish can be a leader and set an example for other communities,” Pettengill said.