Let it not be said that some of Maine's police officers do not possess a sense of humor or humanity. If it's not Detective Napijalo finding stolen mascot plushies and most recently writing a comic book for all ages, then it's the anonymous and quirky officer who is currently running the Facebook feed for Bangor Police Department.
If you have been missing the sidelong wit of Maine's old Police Blotter columns in local newspapers (gone the way of the birds, mostly), you will be delighted. If you have yet to check out their feed, then YOU ARE MISSING OUT!
https://www.facebook.com/Bangor-Maine-Police-Department-227432866078/
For instance:
1) One police officer was able to save a tiny chihuahua from a fire last week in spite of a biting from the nervous young lady pup. He tells the story better than I do:
In a celebration of National Puppy day we share the following information.
A structure fire on Hammond Street was discovered by Officer Jordan Bragan while on routine patrol. Bragan alerted folks to get out of the adjacent apartments by pounding on doors and waking those in danger.
Bragan also was able to enter an apartment in order to grab a 6 pound Chihuahua named either Bella or Stella. The pooch refused to come out. Nice save, Bragan. "Don't drop the Chalupa." It is unclear if he will add that slogan to his new tattoo. The dog is fine. He would have done it even if it was not National Puppy Day.
Bragan was bitten by Stella/Bella while carrying her from the building. He was wearing his gloves and was not seriously injured. We could hear him verbalize "doooohhhh" from his cruiser camera audio recording. We are putting it on Sgt. Bushey's mix-tape.
Bangor Fire arrived at the scene and put out the fire. Nice work ladies and gents.
Otherwise, several arrests for various illegal activity and someone dropped off donuts. They are all gone.
Have an awesome Thursday. We will be here!
Or how about
2) The way they handle reminding us all (duh) to lock our doors:
Please folks, if I gave you advice on financial decisions, food selection, roofing materials or what kind of flatware you should buy, ignore it. I know very little about those things.
My idea of a good investment is one which returns just fifty percent of my initial outlay. Flatware pulled from the McDonald's bag has been used on many a night in my little world and I think discarded street signs look pretty cool as a stopgap measure on the camp roof. I am not promoting taking street signs. I said discarded. Read all the words before contacting my supervisor.
I rethought my first paragraph and have decided that my food selection skills are superb. Add a half a cap of apple cider vinegar to your drawn butter when using it dip your steamed clams or lobster. You will be thanking me soon after the meal, possibly naming your next child after me. This child will be well behaved, a heck of a pool player and will move out of your house after his or her 36th birthday. I was a late bloomer as well. Trust me. I work for the government. Get it right. Capital T. Capital C. Sounds like "easy", and rearing him/her will be just that. Their middle name should be, Tangy-Goodness.
What does all that rambling have to do with police work. Nothing. You expect too much from me.
I need you to lock your stinking car doors. All over Bangor, we are dealing with a roaming dipstick or dipsticks that are ransacking your belongings, dropping your registration paperwork on the floor of the Civic and taking things of value. How hard is this for us? Obviously, it is tougher than I think.
Lock your doors. Just use the little button on the remote, hold down the mushroom looking thingie on the door, push forward or backward on that tab near the handle. They even make it easy by marking it with orange. Lock it. Lock it. Lock it.
Some of us might even remember next time as a result of this.
I would be remiss if I neglected to mention Westbrook Police Department's feed, which is regularly updated with useful and helpful info, including major traffic updates when roads are closed due to crashes, links to confidential victim support services, historic photos from the force archives, pics of new and outstanding personnel, photos of suspects they are trying to identify, etc.
https://www.facebook.com/WestbrookPD/
Portland Police Department is online on Facebook as well, and they seem to be trying to up their game in recent weeks in an effort at matching Bangor's outreach. Let's hope they continue! We need it here, guys. I'm serious!:
https://www.facebook.com/Portland-Maine-Police-Department-121900037821056/
NOTE: For those wanting to know more details, Portland Police Department Detective Andjelko Napijalo's comic book,
Nightmare Warriors, is being launched by a Kickstarter campaign (47 hours left and it's just over its goal). If you want to check it out, here it is:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/34629306/nightmare-warriors
Here's to all of Maine's women and men in blue, and especially to those who handle such a difficult and frustrating job by finding a way through all the stress to help us with a smile on their face or by offering a helping hand in the worst times of need and distress. Thanks for doing a job that would drive me into a straightjacket. Thanks for being on the other end when we call. Thanks for having a sense of humor when you hear things like, "Oh, nope -- he just
dropped the bullhorn out the window." We're glad to have you here beside us in the light AND the darkness before the dawn.
If you love your Maine PD's Facebook feed or have a favorite weekly Maine police blotter that's still running, please feel free to recommend it in the comments, and I will post it! :)
