FARMINGTON – The police department has named Officer Darin Gilbert as its top employee for 2009.
Police Chief Richard Caton, III, said Gilbert has served with distinction after taking on responsibilities in addition to his regular duties. “These included managing a Holiday Enforcement grant from the Bureau of Highway Safety, setting up and running the physical agility test for the officers in the department and training four new patrolmen as the patrol training officer along with Sgt. Shane Cote,” he said.
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This annual award is given to “any full-time employee in the Farmington Police Department who stands well above other employees in the performance of their job and who contributes immensely to the mission of the Farmington Police Department,” according to the award’s announcement.
“As a senior patrolman in the department, it is clear that you are willing to take on a leadership role. This is essential in a small department as ours. It gives the younger, less tenured officers more options to ask questions and to seek guidance. It is an important function of a senior officer to take on additional responsibilities, but none more important than to assist less experienced officers getting started in a difficult career with the right information, attitude and direction,” Caton wrote of Gilbert’s work.
In addition, Caton said the employee of the quarter for fall 2009 was awarded to Officer William S. Tanner, IV.
He commended Tanner for being selected by his class as president while he attended the 18-week Basic Law Enforcement Training Program at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. While there, he received three class awards for professionalism, firearms proficiency and physical fitness proficiency.
“These character traits assist us in meeting the goal of our mission statement of “To create a feeling of safety for people within the Town of Farmington,” Caton wrote of Tanner.
