Mike has accepted a command level position with a police department in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
In announcing his retirement, Chief Bussiere noted: “While I soon will be moving away from Lewiston, the City that I was born and raised in, a part of me will always remain behind and I will forever be a cheerleader for this great City. I leave knowing that the men and women of the LPD are some of the best law enforcement professionals in the State of Maine and that they will continue to serve the City with honor, integrity, and pride.”
Among Mike’s accomplishments during his seven years as chief are:
• Leading a Police Department that has contributed to reducing crime and making the City’s neighborhoods safer and more livable. During his tenure as Chief, Crime has been reduced by over 40% in Lewiston in part through a series of crime reduction strategies involving “hot spot policing,” which was introduced in 2012. After four years, Operation Hot Spots has not only reduced crime, it has increased public awareness, education, community outreach, and partnerships. This effort has been so successful that the Department was recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice and received a grant for $150,000 to expand the program, which has become a model that is being emulated by other law enforcement agencies in the State.
• The creation of a WMD/Hazmat team for the City. Serving as Deputy Police Chief at the time, Mike lead the effort to create a county-wide Hazmat team a decade ago, and it remains one of just a few law-enforcement based Hazmat teams in the country.
• Mike established a Community Resource Team (CRT) and located it in a sub-station in the heart of a downtown neighborhood that had higher demand for police services. This team has developed and nurtured police/citizen interaction and cooperation in improving the community and lowering crime. As a result of the creation of this team, the Department has been able to create or expand a variety of community policing programs, including support for neighborhood crime watch programs, identifying and monitoring disorderly properties, the Coffee with a Cop program (including outreach to senior facilities and local colleges), the Citizen’s Police Academy, Movie Night with the Cops, as well as support for numerous non-profit agencies, all of which help build community support for the Department and improve the City.
According to City Administrator Ed Barrett, “I’m sorry that Mike will be leaving. During his tenure, he has shown a deep and abiding commitment to Lewiston -- his community and his home. He will leave us with a Police Department that aggressively addresses crime and public safety, but that does so by building strong and durable relationships with all elements of our community. I know he will keep his eye on Lewiston, even if, for a time, it’s from afar.”
Mayor Bob Macdonald, a retired veteran of the Lewiston Police Department, added: “Mike has done a terrific job for this community. He has provided sound and thoughtful leadership to the department and has never shrunk from addressing problems and standing up for his hometown. He has instilled a new level of pride, not only in the Department, but in the City as a whole. We will all miss him.”