Portland swore in Mark Dubois as its 21st police chief Friday.
Dubois started his career in 1990 at a Massachusetts police department as a dispatcher and part-time officer. Now he’s leading Maine’s largest city department.
“It’s an excellent police department. I think they have a very good reputation. I know there’s a lot of very good, professional police officers that work here,” Dubois said.
Dubois said he’s ready to serve this community and is putting a priority on filling open positions.
“We’re understaffed, and that’s a tough problem to have. You need to have fully staffed personnel to accomplish all those missions you want to accomplish. So I’d say recruitment is going to be a priority,” Dubois said.
He also will focus on homelessness.
“It’s a vulnerable population. A lot of victimization within that population that the police can assist and deal with, so it’s trying to guide them towards social services, trying to help them with the addiction issue, getting into treatment or recovery,” Dubois said.
Mayor Kate Snyder said Dubois’ commitment, deep understanding of the law and work with diverse communities are just some of the reasons he was chosen.
“We need that leadership here in Portland,” Dubois said. “It’s a great opportunity. I think there’s a lot of interesting issues that need to be worked on and this department is tops so I’m excited.”
Dubois’ duties begin on Monday.