New police chief to start at the end of April

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Ryan Reardon, who grew up in Dexter and has worked in law enforcement since 1994 including for a time as the interim sheriff of Kennebec County, was appointed as the chief of the Dover-Foxcroft Police Department effective as of April 30, by the selectmen during a March 27 meeting. Reardon will succeed the retiring Chief Dennis Dyer.
“After a long process today is the day I am nominating Ryan Reardon to you to be our next police chief,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said to the board. “He has been in law enforcement since 1994, his first job was in Dexter so he is very familiar with this area.”
A 1992 graduate of Dexter Regional High School, Reardon had spent 10 years working for the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Department including serving as a patrol deputy, major chief deputy and interim sheriff from September of 2015 through late 2016. Reardon more recently worked for the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety as well as continuing a decade as a part-time patrol officer for his hometown Oakland Police Department.
“I know in talking to Ryan he is very excited to come back to this area where he grew up,” Clukey said.
The new police chief’s date of hire will be April 30 and his starting salary will be $59,900. Reardon has agreed to reside in Dover-Foxcroft by the end of the year.
Reardon will work with Dyer for two weeks during a transition period for the police department through May 12.
Reardon, who was joined by his wife Kathleen at the meeting, thanked the selectmen’s protection committee and said “there’s a lot of issues in law enforcement today.” He mentioned the opioid as one multi-faceted problem.
The incoming chief said he attended the Dover-Foxcroft Shiretown Homecoming Committee’s annual Maine Maple Sunday breakfast at Foxcroft Academy the previous morning. “It was very obvious the good people and their good nature and hospitality is still what I remember,” Reardon said.
“I promise you I will be an effective law enforcement officer and the community comes first,” he said. “I will give back to you as much as you give to me and probably more.”
Reardon said he has 500 business cards on order to distribute once he starts, to include his cellphone number “which rings 24 hours a day” such as during his time as the head of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Department.
“I make myself available because that is how you serve the public,” he said.
The Reardons have three children, ages 15, 12 and 10. Kathleen Reardon is currently the Jobs for Maine’s Graduates specialist at Cony High School in Augusta. She said for the next school year she is looking to transfer to a similar position in the Bangor area.
Dyer is nearing the end of his time serving Dover-Foxcroft in an interim capacity. Last July he agreed to stay on for up to one year as the town worked to hire his successor. Dyer has been police chief since 1985 and he reached 44 years with the department last September.

Incoming Dover-Foxcroft Police Chief Ryan Reardon