A 25-year law enforcement veteran will pin on the badge as Gorham’s new police chief next month.
Daniel Jones, 50, was appointed last week as Gorham’s seventh chief in the department, which itself turned 50 last year.
Jones is the deputy police chief in Kennebunk and will start his duties in Gorham on Monday, Aug. 24.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity,” Jones said in his office on Tuesday at the Kennebunk Police Department. “I’m ready to start.”
Jones succeeds Ronald Shepard, who retired Nov. 4, 2014, after serving 19 years as the chief and 42 years with the department in Gorham, his hometown.
Jones will be the chief in a new police station under construction at 270 Main St. in a $4.3 million public safety overhaul that will renovate the existing Public Safety Building for the Fire Department.
Jones will head a department rocked earlier this year when a report of a town-ordered study was released, revealing issues that included domestic violence and morale problems in the ranks.
“I’m going there and do a lot of listening,” Jones said. “I’m not well-versed on any of the incidents.”
Jones hasn’t met Gorham officers yet but is acquainted with Lt. Christopher Sanborn, who has been acting chief in Gorham since November.
“He called me to congratulate me,” Jones said.
Before taking the helm in Gorham, Jones plans to meet with Sanborn.
“Chief Jones is a professional acquaintance and I know him to be a dedicated law enforcement professional,” Sanborn said Tuesday. “I think he is a good choice and a great addition to the department. I think we’ll make a great administrative team.”
To familiarize himself with the community, Jones has visited downtown Gorham and Shaw Park, where he hiked the trail. He also walked through the University of Southern Maine campus.
Jones is a native of Long Island, N.Y. His father owned a restaurant, but Jones said he found his niche in law enforcement, starting in Florida in 1990.
In a press release last week, Gorham Town Manager David Cole said Jones, before becoming deputy chief in Kennebunk last year, had served as a detective, supervisory constable and lieutenant. He previously worked for the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office in Fort Pierce, Fla., and was a task force officer with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and with the U.S. Customs Service. Cole said Jones has also worked for the Fort Pierce Police Department.
Jones has been in Kennebunk seven years and lives within walking distance of its police station.
He said the opening in Gorham marked his first time applying for a chief’s job. Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, assisted the Gorham Town Council and Cole in the process of selecting a chief.
Schwartz said Tuesday there were about 28 applicants for the position. Schwartz, who sat in on interviews with the final four candidates, said Jones appears to be “very knowledgeable and well recommended.”
Cole said last week that Jones’ starting salary is about $84,700. Shepard was paid $86,336 in his last full year.
Sanborn, 45, who has been with the Gorham department since 1989 and the lieutenant for 10 years, had also applied for the chief’s job.
“I was one of five finalists and withdrew from the process,” said Sanborn, who declined to elaborate.
In recent years, two Gorham officers, Mark Sanborn, who is brother of Lt. Sanborn, and Dean Hannon, were disciplined internally following domestic abuse investigations conducted by an outside agency. Complainants in separate cases dismissed temporary orders for protection they had sought against Mark Sanborn and Hannon, according to court documents. An additional subsequent protective order sought against Hannon was denied in court.
Jones said he hasn’t discussed internal issues with anyone. Speaking generally, Jones said there would be zero tolerance in case of an officer’s conviction. But short of that, his job would be to find underlying issues and get help for an officer.
“At end of the day, a police department is a family of sorts,” Jones said,.
But, Jones also said, “I hold people accountable.”
Jones said he is visible around town and is in his office all hours of the day and night. As far as dress, he wears his uniform a lot when he’s on the street. But on other occasions, “If a suit is appropriate, I wear a suit,” he said.
He welcomes opportunities to meet residents.
“When I’m in the grocery store, I want people to come up and say hi,” Jones said.
The Gorham Police Department is noted for its community service, such as its support for the town’s senior citizens, Yellow Dot medical safety program and fundraisers for Maine Special Olympics. Jones said community service would continue under his leadership and be improved upon.
Jones comes from a police department that is similar in size to Gorham’s. The Kennebunk Police Department has 19 full-time officers and is comparable to Gorham, which has 23. Jones said Kennebunk is a town of 35 square miles with a population of about 12,000, but doubles in the summer.
A rural community, Gorham is more than 50 square miles and officers patrol 150 miles of local roads and state highways. Gorham’s population has swelled to nearly 17,000.
Both communities have had some high-profile criminal cases. In Kennebunk, Jones, as a lieutenant a few years ago, was initially involved in the investigation of the so-called Zumba studio prostitution case. It generated headlines worldwide.
“We had reporters from all over when that story first broke,” Jones said.
Gorham had two banner stories last year. Police broke up a sex trafficking ring in a rural area that stunned the town. Another 2014 case involved a university student in a standoff with Gorham police and other agencies, who surrounded a downtown fraternity house. The incident shut down much of Gorham Village.
Gorham also was targeted with a string of unsolved arsons in 2012 that had the townspeople on edge.
Jones said he would utilize the experience of Shepard, now a town councilor, and Sanborn.
“I’m fortunate to have Lt. Sanborn on the team,” he said, adding that “Gorham has a good reputation in the profession.”
For the past year, Jones has been the public information officer in Kennebunk and plans to designate one in Gorham – and it could be him.
Jones is single, father of four, and his youngest son is a senior at Kennebunk High School this fall. Jones has plans to relocate to Gorham after his son’s graduation.
Jones said he hasn’t seen or heard any negatives about Gorham, “except for morning traffic.”
At work Tuesday, Kennebunk Deputy Police Chief Daniel Jones is set to become Gorham’s chief on Aug. 24. Staff photo by Robert LowellSend questions/comments to the editors.
