South Berwick police introduced two new officers and the department’s drone pilot to the community last week at an event where kids got to dunk a cop, tour a helicopter and sit in the driver’s seat of cruisers at Shoetown Park.
The two officers introduced at the annual National Night Out on Aug. 5 were Anthony DiLisio, who celebrated his graduation from the Police Academy in December, and Paul Goldsmith, the department’s newest hire who had been a police officer in Sanford for 10 years. Eric Bourn, hired full-time in 2024, is the drone pilot.
DeLisio left a lucrative job in finance in Massachusetts, he said, for what he considers “a more rewarding job [and] one of the most important services in town.”
DiLisio understands the struggle around recruiting new officers, a challenge Chief David Ruger has repeatedly highlighted for South Berwick and other Maine communities the past year.
The salary level is a challenge for those who have to hold a second job part-time, DiLisio said, and they may even consider their work a “charitable endeavor.” However, he added, he enjoys working with the team and being part of the town.
“The training was intense,” Dilisio said, “but the job is always changing, and I like challenges.”
Ruger welcomed visitors to the police booth and took a few minutes to provide a hiring update. The department currently has four candidates set to take oral boards this month to qualify for the first step in becoming an officer, Ruger said, describing the boards as “a beginning.”
The department has struggled for the past year to find a successful candidate for the 12th spot approved by town voters in May 2024.
“This is not a profession that one can just walk into one day, receive an acceptance and start the next day,” Ruger has said previously. “Police officers go through extensive hiring practices.”
If they pass the oral boards, applicants must meet other requirements including physical fitness tests, field training and, for those new to policing, completion of an 18-week Basic Law Enforcement program.
Goldsmith, after taking his turn in the dunking booth, talked about his new role in South Berwick. He enjoys downtown foot patrols, appreciates his team members and working with kids.
“I like way the town is laid out, not overly congested,” Goldsmith said. “It’s a nice town with great policies and a strong focus on community policing.”
Bourn joined the South Berwick force a few years after his retirement in 2021 from the University of New Hampshire Police Department, where he served as a sergeant. But he missed policing and began as a part-time officer in South Berwick, now employed full-time and the department’s drone pilot.
Bourn gave drone demonstrations to attendees at the event and described the drone’s amazing ability to light up an area. “It has thermal imaging and a spotlight, and we can use if chasing suspects, if needed,” he said.
South Berwick’s National Night Out was supported by the South Berwick Firefighters Association and South Berwick Police Association. Free grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, freeze pops and water were served by volunteers from the Firefighters Association.
National Night Out, founded in 1984 by the National Association of Town Watch, provides an opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances. This year 38 million neighbors in 17,000 communities across the nation celebrated National Night Out, according to their website at natw.org.
