Kevin Conger is glad to be back at USM. After a yearlong stint as the Chief of Police in Monmouth, Conger has returned to USM as the director of public safety.
For Conger, this is a great place to be. “USM has it all,” he said. “It’s great here. I love working with the students.”
He said that in a small town there is a lot of competition for services provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. “Here there is counseling, support; you can always turn to someone who has expertise in what you are dealing with.”
Prior to his position in Monmouth, Conger worked for two years in the USM Police Department, a period of time that only scratches the surface of his experience in law enforcement.
Following high school, Conger served a tour of duty in the Air Force; after his discharge in 1975, he moved to Maine. It was here he fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a police officer. “As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a police officer,” he said. “I’m not sure why, but I remember seeing police officers [as a boy] and thinking that it would be a great job.”
Conger said he spent a total of three years as a municipal officer in Thomaston and Rockland before spending several years on the Maine Marine Patrol. Following his time with the Marine Patrol, Conger then joined the Maine State Police where he served for 23 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant.
After his retirement in 2007 from the State Police, Conger kept his rank of lieutenant during his time in the USM police department.
Despite all his years in law enforcement, Conger said he still remains passionate about his work. “It is a great job and very rewarding,” he said. “No two days are the same. Every day you help people, victims and the community.”
Conger’s hiring is a relief to the USM community, after a ten-month vacancy in the position caused by the retirement of Lisa Beecher. Beecher had held the position for 12 years. Alhough Ron Saindon served as interim director, the vacancy left the department short-staffed and less effective.
USM officer Jeff Soper, a 32-year veteran of law enforcement, said he was very pleased with the opportunity to work with Conger. “I’ve known Chief Conger for 30 years,” he said. “His state patrol and my sheriff’s patrol overlapped. He has always been very professional and is respected in the law enforcement community. I can’t say enough about the guy, and if I said anything bad about him I’d be lying.”
As director of public safety, Conger is responsible for campus safety, parking and transportation, dispatchers and police officers at USM. He helps network between departments such as the USM Police, Office of Community Standards, Residential Life and other USM departments dealing with the community in order to work on projects and promote public safety.
He also serves as a member of the Behavioral Intervention Team, a group that helps evaluate high-risk members of the USM community and decide how best to help them while protecting the community.
Conger helps USM work cooperatively with other community safety organizations, including the Gorham and Portland police departments, the Sexual Assault Response Service of Southern Maine, the Cumberland County Domestic Abuse Intervention Project and the Portland Violence Intervention Project.
He said he is also creating an “All Hazards Plan” for USM that will help the university be prepared for any emergency that may occur.
Conger said he is excited about the department moving into a new facility, something which has been in the works before his arrival. Plans are in motion to move the police officers on the Gorham campus to the former childcare facility behind New Hall. The Portland department will remain in its current location. The move will give the department a larger facility and “get [them] out of the basement” — a reference to the current location in Upton Hall, which is partially underground and leaves many offices windowless.
As director, Conger said he hopes to streamline and refine the newly-restructured police department and ensure great staffing and employee retention.
SINCE KNOWING CHIEF CONGER SINCE HIGH SCHOOL I KNOW THE KIND OF DEDICATION AND PRIDE HE BRINGS TO HIS JOB.. HE PUTS ALL HIS EFFORT INTO BEING THE VERY BEST AT MAKING HIS DEPARTMENT HIS UPMOST CONCERN AND GIVES HIS ALL TO MAKING A VERY WELL RUN DEPARTMENT.. HE BRINGS A VERY UPLIFTING AIR TO ALL THAT WORK UNDER HIM,,WHICH I AM SURE MAKES THE UNIVERSITY A VERY SAFE PLACE TO BE