WATERVILLE — Deputy police Chief Charles Rumsey is leaving the Waterville department in early June to take the police chief’s job in Cumberland.
Rumsey, who accepted the Cumberland position Thursday morning, has been with the Waterville department more than 21 years, nine as deputy chief.
“It’s going to be bittersweet to leave here,” Rumsey said Thursday afternoon. “I’m extremely proud of the time I served here and I’m very excited to take the skills and experience I’ve had here and bring it to the town of Cumberland.”
Cumberland Town Manager Bill Shane said Thursday that town officials were seeking a strong leader who understands community policing, and Rumsey’s training, skills, experience and professionalism were apparent during interviews.
“It was pretty much a home run for us,” Shane said. “We’re just doing cartwheels. He is just a class act.”
Rumsey was chosen from among 12 candidates, according to Shane. He said five candidates were interviewed.
Rumsey starts his new job June 6 and will replace Joe Charron, who retired April 1 after 38 years with the department, according to Shane. In Cumberland, with a population of 7,500, Rumsey will oversee 11 full-time officers and an animal control officer, Shane said. It is a smaller department than Waterville’s, which has 31 officers.
Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey praised Rumsey and his work and said he has mixed emotions about seeing him go.
“The selfish part of me wishes he had not been offered the position, because I’m losing a very capable, competent police administrator,” Massey said. “But on the other side, I realize he’s a professional and he wants to be a chief, and this is the right time for him and he needs to do what’s best for him and his family and his career.”
Rumsey, 45, worked his way up through the ranks in Waterville. He was hired in 1995 as a patrol officer after graduating from University of North Dakota with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice studies. He was a patrol officer more than three years and then was promoted to detective. In 2002, he was named patrol sergeant and in 2007, deputy chief.
While in Waterville, he took advantage of the tuition reimbursement program offered by the city and earned a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Maine in 2009. He also attended the FBI Academy in 2010 in Quantico, Virginia.
His duties as deputy chief in Waterville included overseeing day-to-day operations of the department and supervising members of the management team. He also organized and managed the hiring and promotion processes, handled complaints and was involved in the community, serving on the advisory committee for High Hopes Clubhouse for people with mental illnesses and helping to develop the Children’s Advocacy Center.
Rumsey said he plans to move with his wife, Cindy, and son, C.J., to southern Maine, probably within the next three months.
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