Kevin Collins is Buxton’s new police chief, appointed by the town Select Board last week.

Collins, formerly a sergeant in the department, replaces Troy Cline, who resigned on Jan. 9 after being placed on paid administrative leave. Collins will receive a salary of $90,000.

“My focus as a department chief is communications and transparency with the community,” Collins said in an email this week to the American Journal. “I think it is important to share what is going on around town and take the community’s feedback to take care of the problems in town.”

He will lead a department comprised of nine full-time officers, three reserve officers, a court officer, animal control officer, four full-time dispatchers and an administrative assistant.

Cline hired Collins in March of 2021 to head up the patrol division. Prior to that, Collins worked for the York County Sheriff’s Department and in 2020 was honored as Maine Deputy of the Year. Before working for the Sheriff’s Department, Collins worked for two years on the Buxton police force. He began his law enforcement career in 1998 as a public safety dispatcher and reserve officer in Scarborough.

The Select Board March 1 voted 3-0 in favor of Collins’ appointment, with Chairperson Francis Pulsoni abstaining from the vote and Tom Peters absent. Select Board Assistant Hunter Cox said Pulsoni was in law enforcement more than 30 years and a few of the finalists for the chief’s position were his ex-colleagues and friends.

“Because of these personal relationships, he didn’t think it would be appropriate for him to vote with the other selectmen on the final choice,” Cox said.

Collins, 44, lives in Waterboro “with my five children, three of my own and two stepchildren from my fiancee,” he said. The couple plans to be married in October.

He was to be sworn in Wednesday night, after the American Journal’s deadline.

Town officials have released no information on the reason for Cline’s administrative leave except to say it was “to investigate an internal personnel matter.” Cline was chief for six years.

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