Fond farewell given to school resource officer

Staff and students surprised School Resource Officer Dennis Lowe with a farewell sendoff on his last day at the middle school.

Lowe came to the Westbrook Police Department in 2017; prior to that he had worked for the Indianapolis (Indiana) Police Department.

In his time with Westbrook, Lowe was involved as a crash reconstructionist, forensic phlebotomist, drug recognition expert and a field sobriety testing instructor. After working as a patrol officer for a few years, Lowe transitioned to school resource officer. He also worked as an SRO in the elementary school. In 2020, Lowe was named the department’s employee of the year.

He resigned after saying he wanted to pursue other interests.

WPD recovery liaison moving on

Westbrook Police Department in a Facebook posting Dec. 30 thanked Recovery Liaison Danielle Rideout, who is leaving the department to finish her master’s degree and start her own business.

Rideout became the department’s first recovery liaison and built the program.

“In her role, Danielle helped hundreds upon hundreds of people in our community gain sobriety,” the posting said. “She has worked tirelessly to help people, and she has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.”

The Police Department plans to have her successor in place soon.

50 years ago

The Westbrook American reported on Jan. 12, 1972, that Gary Gilman of West Pleasant Street had arrived home after being discharged from the Navy.