Boothbay Harbor Police Chief Doug Snyder was at the Rotary club to offer a brief overview of his career and future plans for the local police department during a Dec. 5 club meeting.  

Snyder's career has been varied. He first came to the region while in the Coast Guard (2002-2006), but his time with the organization has taken him across the U.S. This includes down to Virginia where he became a dog handler as part of the Coast Guard’s anti-terrorism team, working inaugurations and other political events.  

Snyder was a private security contractor at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan with his bomb dog, Lucas, who recently made an appearance as the Grinch’s dog, Max, during the Lighted Fire Truck + First Responders parade. Snyder eventually decided to return to Boothbay Harbor and joined BHPD in 2016 where he would take over for retired Chief Bob Hasch almost two years ago.  

“(Hasch) really instilled the (idea of) community policing, being out there talking with people,” said Snyder. He has since tried to follow in his predecessor's footsteps through not only engaging with individuals, but also by making the police present at community events, such as trick or treating, the library’s Touch-A-Truck, and the aforementioned parade.  

“We want to have fun with it,” said Snyder.

Snyder also discussed how being active in the community becomes harder in the summer when the population increases: As the call volume goes up, the ability for them to be engaged with the region goes down. This is exacerbated by the department’s lack of staffing. According to Snyder, Maine police have some of the highest overtime this past year due to statewide shortages. BHPD is trying to combat this problem by tapping students who are attending Bath Tech and getting them involved as Community Resource Officers, i.e., parking enforcers so they may join the department later on. They’ve also implemented incentives, such as sign-up bonuses and paying for mileage. “The problem is, no one wants to do the job anymore.” 

Synder rounded out the talk by looking at how the dropping temperatures and power outages affect our most vulnerable populations. He encouraged anyone who lives alone and may be at risk, or knows someone who is, to contact the department if they want to have check-ins. Lincoln County Sheriff's Department also has a program called RUOK (Are You Okay?), which will call every day at a pre-arranged time to verify the safety of a client, and will dispatch the closest emergency services if there is no answer.   

On Dec. 12, the Rotary Club will host Cindy Wade, president of LincolnHealth, to discuss the rebranding going on at the organization.