Somehow it seems fitting that former Lincoln County Sheriff William C. Carter has left us at this time of the year. Carter’s passing truly closes the door on an era in Maine law enforcement.
More recent transplants to Lincoln County might consider uniformed deputies and county owned patrol cars as a matter of course. However there was a time when Sheriff Carter, no doubt, had to go and make the case to the Lincoln County Commissioners that the county should actually buy its own patrol car.
Given the history of rural law enforcement up to that time, it was likely an uphill battle.
By the time Carter left office, he had bridged the gap between the part-time, quasi-private law enforcement services of the past to a modern full-time, high-tech, highly trained professional service.
Thanks to Bill Carter, the agency he handed off to his successor, Todd Brackett, is not likely to be materially different from the agency Brackett will eventually hand off to his successor.
Eras end only so often.
When the late, legendary Damariscotta Police Chief George Hutchings passed away in 2003 locals fondly remembered how Hutchings patrolled the town for years in his personal vehicle, single handedly keeping the peace.
On occasion you can still hear longtime residents mutter about the police budget, saying something along the lines of how, ‘when George Hutchings was chief, the budget was so much less and things still got done.’
Those days, however, are long gone and Carter as much as anyone could see them coming to an end.
Carter’s greatest gift perhaps was his ability to recognize where Maine was going in the years ahead and then lead the way to the future.
So, sad as it is, it seems fitting that Sheriff Carter has gone to his reward now as we prepare to turn the page on another year.
William C. Carter was a man among men and we’ll not see his like again.
