Damariscotta Police Chief Jason Warlick speaks to the Damariscotta Select Board after being sworn in Aug. 1, 2017. After eight years in the role, Warlick will resign as chief on Aug. 1 as he will become the chief deputy of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office. (Maia Zewert photo, LCN file)
Damariscotta Police Chief Jason Warlick will resign from the role effective Friday, Aug. 1 to become the chief deputy of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office.
Warlick has been with the Damariscotta Police Department for 14 years, having originally joined as a reserve officer in November 2011.
“I’m very blessed and humbled to have been able to serve the community here for so long,” Warlick said. “And it’s because of the opportunities that were afforded to me here in Damariscotta and the ability to build those community relationships that led to me being hired as the next chief deputy of Sagadahoc County.”
Warlick’s law enforcement career spans two decades, beginning in 2005 and including stints as a reserve officer in the Freeport and Waldoboro police departments, as a full-time officer with the Wiscasset Police Department, and as a minimum-security supervisor at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset.
He joined the Damariscotta Police Department as a reserve officer in November 2011 and became a full-time officer in March 2012. In November 2014, former Damariscotta Police Chief Ron Young promoted Warlick to the rank of sergeant, the department’s second in command.
Warlick was appointed acting police chief in January 2017 after Young was placed on administrated leave. After Young resigned two months later, former Town Manager Matt Lutkus appointed Warlick as interim police chief. That position became permanent in July 2017 after the Damariscotta Select Board voted unanimously to confirm Warlick as police chief.
Warlick said the swearing-in ceremony in August 2017, during which his wife pinned on his new chief’s badge, remains one of the proudest moments of his career.
In an interview after the ceremony, Warlick said he hoped to grow the department’s interactions with residents of all ages, specifically working with kids at Great Salt Bay Community School and senior citizens. Eight years later, he feels the department has been successful in both respects.
The police department has “developed the most amazing relationship” with the school, Warlick said, working with administration on safety procedures and the emergency action response plan, giving drug and alcohol prevention talks in classrooms, and being involved with events like the annual bike rodeo.
“Overall, we were able to build a great relationship with the children, the teachers, and the parents,” Warlick said.
The department also partnered with the school, as well as with the Central Lincoln County YMCA, to grow the annual Trunk-or-Treat event, a tradition started before Warlick became chief. The event, which was previously held in the police department’s parking lot, moved to GSB in 2017 and has continued to grow.
“It’s now a giant event, and it’s by far my favorite yearly event,” he said. “There’s nothing better. Everyone’s smiling and happy, and it’s just a positive experience.”
With the town’s older population, the department focused on scam prevention, becoming a regular presence in assisted-living homes to educate residents, and helping connect citizens with needed resources and services, Warlick said.
One of the major recent accomplishments for the department, Walick said, was earning accreditation through the Maine Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, a voluntary process that is completed by less than a quarter of the state’s law enforcement agencies, in 2024. The Damariscotta Police Department became the second agency in Lincoln County to become accredited after the Boothbay Harbor Police Department.
To receive the accreditation, the department developed policies to meet a set of standards in administration and organization, professional conduct, training, personnel, records and information management, use of force, law enforcement operations, communications, and property/evidence management. The process took over 18 months.
At present, the Damariscotta Police Department is fully staffed with a patrol sergeant, three full-time patrol officers, three part-time officers, and a newly hired administrative assistant.
“I don’t know how the agency could be left any better than what it is,” Warlick said. “It’s drama free with no black eyes, no negative interactions with the public, and I think we’ve done a very good job at making it a professional, well-run, and respected police department.”
Having spent the majority of his career at the Damariscotta Police Department, Warlick said he does not have any regrets about the time spent serving the community he loves.
“I truly feel I’m going out on a high note,” Warlick said. “I’m leaving a great agency at the best it can be left. I feel excited about the new chapter in my book, but I feel really good about the pages I wrote in this one.”
Town Manager Andy Dorr announced Warlick’s resignation during the Wednesday, July 2 meeting of the Damariscotta Select Board.
“(Warlick is) a person who’s built a lot of community, built a lot of support around the department in this position, and it will certainly be challenging to fill that,” Dorr said in a phone interview Monday, July 7. “And we’ll miss him. We’re certainly excited for him. For someone to grow professionally and be able to see that, there’s some excitement as bittersweet as it is.”
The Damariscotta Select Board will discuss Warlick’s resignation and next steps for the town at its next meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16 in the town office. For more information, call 563-5168 or go to damariscotta.maine.gov.
