Council hires police chief
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — The Star City has a new chief of police, following City Council’s decision Tuesday evening to hire Matthew Irwin, former lieutenant with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, to head the Presque Isle Police Department.
The search began last November, when Chief Naldo Gagnon announced he’d be leaving the position he’d held for 14 years to take the job of deputy chief of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. City officials began the search for his replacement upon Gagnon’s departure, spending the next three months reviewing applications and performing interviews. The hiring committee narrowed its choices from nine possibilities to three final candidates — Sgt. Joey Seeley, PIPD; William Campbell, with the MDEA and formerly a detective sergeant with the PIPD; and Irwin.
The Council’s decision to hire someone from outside the state rather than select someone from within the community follows along the same thought process used in hiring City Manager Jim Bennett just over a year ago, when councilors decided to “go in a new direction” with regard to the city’s leadership.
Councilors had expected to make their final decision and announce the name of the new chief by their first meeting in March but opted to hold a special meeting this week to make their selection public.
Sgt. Laurie Kelly had been serving as interim police chief since mid-November 2010.
A more thorough interview will be done with the chief at a later date, once he has had time to settle into his new position.
