ROCKLAND – The Rockland City Council gave a nod to three members of the police department during the Monday, July 10, council meeting. Retiring Police Sergeants Russell Thompson and Edwin “Don” Finnegan accepted plaques for their 21 and 25 years of service, respectively. Councilors also commended Police Officer Matthew Lindahl for his 20 years of service.

“I would just like to say thank you for all of your service to the City of Rockland. We have a stellar police department, and certainly, you’ve contributed greatly to keeping this city safe,” Councilor Adam Ackor said.

Mayor Will Clayton reminded attendees that public safety employees are held to higher standards, but they are also held to the highest esteem.

“We should be shouting from the rooftop just how well you do, whether it’s fighting fire, stopping crime,” Clayton said. “And the beauty of this city is that you do your job so well that most people don’t even know it. You take care of things before they get to that apex.

“You are certainly held to the highest esteem in my eyes,” he said.

Don Finnegan, who served Rockland from 1992 to 2017, has done so in capacities of patrol officer, Maine Drug Recognition Expert, workshop leader, community forum participant and media liaison.

Russell Thompson served with Rockland from 1996 to 2017. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and a 1997 graduate of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, according to a Pilot article here. He has held the positions of patrol officer, harbor patrol member (since 1998) and motorcycle patrol member since 2000. In 2005, Thompson was assigned to the position of detective.

In 2007, he became a certified instructor through the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and in 2009, he became a department firearms instructor and has been the lead firearms instructor for the Rockland Police Department.

In July 2015, Matthew Lindahl, along with former officer Scott Redmun, responded to an area beach for a man with a rope and suicidal intentions. According to the Pen Bay Pilot article, Lindahl spotted the man climbing a tree and tying a rope from a branch. He attempted to thwart the man’s actions.

"The male was kicking at Sgt. Lindahl's head in order to stop Sgt. Lindahl from helping him," but Lindahl did not give up and continued to assist the man, according to Rockland Police Chief Bruce Boucher, in the article.

The man eventually looped the noose around his neck and jumped, but the officer was able to hold the man up until the rope could be cut.

For their actions, Lindahl and Redmun were awarded the department's Meritorious Service Award.

In September 2016 Lindahl received another Meritorious Service Award for his part in a traffic stop that ended up being a kidnapping case.

Sarah Thompson can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com