Goodbye, Officer Tim
Bar Harbor's School Resource Officer Is Leaving
BAR HARBOR—He walked the halls to calls of “Hi, Officer Tim.” He played ball. He tied shoes. He helped straighten hats. Listened to stories. Learned name after name of students, teachers, and parents. He quietly calmed kids who had entered crisis mode and barricaded themselves in a room.
Bar Harbor’s Tim Bland did it all, year after year, as the school resource officer at Conners Emerson School and the Mount Desert Island High School. He became a fixture, a presence, and for a lot of staff and kids, he became a friend.
“Officer Tim Bland, or affectionally known as ‘Officer Tim or OT’ by students, families, and school staff, will be missed dearly by the MDI community,” said Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Police Chief David Kerns.
Kerns and Bland were both hired as full-time officers for Bar Harbor Police Department in late September of 2000 and then attended the 96th Municipal County Basic Police School together in January of 2001. Both were hired by former chief Nathan Young who also initiated and supported the school resource officer position during his tenure.
“Growing up in law enforcement together, we have shared a lot of time together, away from our families working midnight shifts, weekends, and holidays,” Kerns said. “Lots of stories to tell of calls we have been on together, both happy and heartbreaking.”
Back in 2000, Bland made newspaper reports for knocking on doors to find a person who had driven into Burwaldo’s, which was a local liquor store. Growing up in Ellsworth, he consistently made the papers for sports. His freshman Ellsworth High School Eagle team won the Eastern Maine Freshman Championship. He was a sprinter, too. And he worked for Ellsworth Police Department before Bar Harbor. He worked patrol before his time at the schools and also during his time at the schools.
“Being a school resource officer has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my job. My job is to build relationships with the kids of this community and to be a resource to the schools. The model our district has is significantly different from most. I am not disciplinary,” Bland explained. “If I see behavior that's not encouraging, I will pass the student onto the administrator on campus. SROs should have a balance of being able to teach, being able to talk to or listen to students, and clearly have some level of security. I've strived to achieve this balance.”
According to the National Association of School Resource Officers,
“A school resource officer (SRO) is a carefully selected, specifically trained, and properly equipped law enforcement officer with sworn authority, trained in school-based law enforcement and crisis response and assigned by an employing law enforcement agency to work collaboratively with one or more schools using community-oriented policing concepts.”
That community orientation was a major reason why Bland was chosen for the job and made an impact in the school community and greater Bar Harbor community.
“We appreciate all the time he spent here, especially in the time before COVID,” Dr. Heather Weir Webster told the Bar Harbor School Board on Monday.
“I feel like I grew up with him,” School Superintendent Michael Zboray said, both he and Bland spent years in Bar Harbor and Trenton and Ellsworth, growing into new roles as the years passed.
Bland is now moving on to work in the private sector. His last day as a school resource officer is Monday. According to Police Chief David Kerns, the school resource officer position probably won’t be filled this school year. The joined Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Police Department is a bit short-staffed currently. It’s about more than that though.
“It has to be the right person. Not every cop can be the school resource officer,” Kerns said. “I am excited for Tim and his family for the next chapter of his life outside law enforcement. I know he is looking forward to spending more time doing what he loves with his family and their church. We have talked a lot over the last week or so, and I know this decision is bittersweet. The thought of not putting on a badge and firearm to go to work and serve the community he has been a part of for almost 25 years, walking foot patrol in the downtown, or the halls of our schools as a role model and mentor for our youth, is what he has expressed he will miss the most.”
The superintendent, schools, and Kerns will work together for a selection process to make sure that the right person is selected. They’ll likely train through the fall and start in September 2024 with the new school year.
For years, Bland has been that right person. Bland became the school resource officer and has been assigned to the Conners Emerson School since 2010. In 2016, he started spending between 2 to 2-1/2 days at the high school.
“Tim has been a tremendous resource to the students at MDI High School during his time as School Resource Officer,” said Principal Matt Haney. “He is a trusted adult that they know they can approach when they are experiencing a challenge in their lives. Tim is friendly, approachable, and supportive of the students he interacts with and we will all miss him as he moves on to his next adventure.”
The presence of a school resource officer at the high school was debated in the winter of 2016-2017 with some worrying that the position would carry implications for misbehaving children as they went out into the community and adulthood or that Bland would have a weapon while in school and that it blurred the line between school personnel and law enforcement.
Mount Desert Town Manager Durlin Lunt said, “I do remember that Tim was a beloved resource officer who overcame a lot of the skepticism concerning the position. Jim (Willis) told me that students felt safe in confiding in him when they had few other resources they trusted.”
At the high school, Haney surveyed 90 percent of staff and students back in 2017 about the position. Over 85 percent wanted to have Bland there. At the time, former Police Chief Jim Willis said, “We have a special person right now in Tim Bland, and we’re trying to take advantage of it.”
According to a 2010 Mount Desert Islander article by Robert Levin, the goal in 2010 of placing Bland in the school was to build positive relationships between students and law enforcement.
“I'm very thankful for the people that were willing to give this program a try and I consider it a huge success,” Bland said. “I've felt welcomed in my schools and love it when teachers utilize me. Anything from tying a shoe to zipping a jacket, walking someone through a family divorce, finding assistance for a family, beating the kids at basketball, or keeping them safe, it's been a very rewarding journey. I pray the next officer assigned to this detail would find it as rewarding as I have!”
“I'm going to miss the relationships I've made in the school system and the police department. I love this community and proud to say I've been a part of it,” Bland said.
“I can't thank Tim enough for his time and service to our communities, the camaraderie as a follow law enforcement officer and as a true friend,” Kerns said. “He will be missed by all, here at the police department as well as in the schools, and by all the people whose lives he has touched over the course of his career.”
Disclaimer: Shaun Farrar once worked at the Bar Harbor Police Department. Carrie Jones (me) shortly worked as an emergency services dispatcher for Mount Desert.
Update: I added a sentence about former Chief Nathan Young for a more comprehensive history of the SRO position.
This is a nice story. I hear his work in the private sector will be doing security for Leonard Leo, who is obviously wealthy enough to buy a policeman.