When Erica Pelletier watched the docudrama Rescue 911 as a kid she knew she wanted to be a cop. Now, she is leading the way for women in county law enforcement as the second in command of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office.
“Right now it feels surreal. I am in my 17th year in law enforcement, and one can always hope and dream that someday you will be promoted to these positions. I worked really hard for this,” she said.
Aroostook County Sheriff Peter Johnson recently appointed Pelletier to chief deputy, following Joey Seeley’s retirement from the position earlier this month. She will take her oath of office on Wednesday.
“Pelletier will be the first female in the history of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office to hold this position and as far as I can find, will be the first female to hold the position of chief deputy in the state of Maine,” Johnson said.
As chief deputy, Pelletier will oversee the Aroostook County Jail that currently houses 117 inmates. She will also oversee deputy patrol and write grants for the sheriff’s office.
Pelletier, 37, joins the ranks of less than 3 percent of female law enforcement officers in leadership roles nationally.
Just this summer, several Maine police departments pledged to increase the number of female police officers as part of a national initiative aimed at bringing more women into law enforcement. Nationally, only 12 percent of sworn police officers are women, and the nonprofit 30×30 Initiative wants to lessen the underrepresentation of women by increasing it to 30 percent in the next six years.
Brunswick Police Chief Scott Stewart made his department the first municipal law enforcement agency in Maine to sign on with the national initiative this summer.
Pelletier joined the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office in July 2014 as a patrol deputy, advanced to sergeant and is now patrol commander.
Her career got its initial boost while she was a criminal justice student at the University of Maine at Fort Kent where she excelled and was awarded the university Criminal Justice Award for overall student interest and overall grade point average.
“You can tell when you really like something by how well you do,” Pelletier said. “It’s like I was born to do this.”
After graduating, Pelletier was a summer reserve officer for the Town of Kennebunkport and then a patrol officer for the Houlton Police Department for several years.
She worked with the Maine Drug Enforcement Task Force where she met Aroostook County Sheriff Johnson and former Aroostook County Sheriff Shawn Gillen, she said.
Gillen said he’s worked a good number of years with Pelletier. She made good decisions as a sergeant, and he trusts what she will do on a scene, he said.
“I think the sheriff made a good decision and they will be a good team,” he said.
Johnson talks about Pelletier mentoring those she supervises and how she never misses an opportunity for improvement through training or seeking the input of others.
Most of all Pelletier said she enjoys making a difference in people’s lives and she is very passionate about domestic violence cases.
“I try to put myself in their shoes and how I might feel in their position,” she said.
As a woman in law enforcement, there are challenges both with the public and in the workplace, she said. Several times she worked a call and someone would say, “great they sent the only woman.”
“I faced a lot of challenges to get to where I am today,” she said.
As chief deputy, Pelletier hopes to see the County getting closer to a new jail before she retires.
“I’d like to see a bigger facility with more resources to offer inmates,” she said. “The jail is a big part of the sheriff’s office and it would be nice to have a more modern facility.”
Pelletier grew up in Madawaska and now lives in Fort Fairfield. She is married to Fort Fairfield Police Chief Matthew Cummings and together they have four children — two boys and two girls ranging in age from 3 to 12. They also have an 11-year-old yellow lab, Cooper, and a black cat, Mr. Binx.
“I appreciate all the support over the years from the community and from Sheriff Johnson,” she said.
Pelletier will take the oath of office at the Sheriff’s Office in Houlton on Wednesday.
