Waldoboro Hires New School Resource Officer

Waldoboro Police Department has hired Tammi Morrison as its new school resource officer, Police Chief Bill Labombarde said Dec. 20.

She will fill the position left vacant when the previous school resource officer, Tom Hoepner, resigned as of Dec. 5. In addition to his other duties, Labombarde has been filling for the last two weeks.

Originally from Rockland, Morrison joined the U.S. Army in 1991 straight out of high school. She retired as a chief warrant officer after 20 years in the service and returned to the area to work as a patrol deputy for the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

Morrison, who now lives in Union, said it was a hard choice to leave the sheriff’s office because she enjoyed the job and the people she worked with, but also an easy choice because of her family situation. Her two sons attend Union Elementary School and Medomak Middle School.

Morrison is not trained as a school resource officer and has only gone through the Maine Criminal Justice Academy’s Law Enforcement Pre-Service Training Program, but both she and Labombarde think she will be a good fit for the role.

“I believe the experience I had in the military will help because you do deal with 17-year-olds and 18-year-olds straight out of high school,” Morrison said. “Sometimes it’s just about mentoring and giving guidance and trying to relate with people.”

Having faced a lot of the same challenges growing up that students still face today, Morrison said she believes she can understand where the students are coming from and show them life is more about choices than circumstances of upbringing.

Labombarde said Morrison is going to be a positive role model for girls with low self-esteem.

“I think she has the life experience and desire to work with young people that it’s going to take to make this job a success,” he said.

Friday, January 3 will be Morrison’s first day, Labombarde said.

“I’m very happy to have her on. I think she’s going to do a great job,” he said.