AUBURN – Three new officers are patrolling the city streets and four veteran officers have been promoted to higher ranks.
The new hires and promotions were announced after several retirements and staff changes at the Auburn Police Department.
Officer Archie Juntura, born and raised in the Philippines, was recently hired as a new officer. Juntura graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy after serving with the United States Army. He is currently a reservist with the Maine Army National Guard and assists with the counter drug, marijuana eradication program.
Officer Andy Schenk was hired after serving in the Navy as a flight engineer. Schenk graduated the Maine Criminal Justice Academy 4th Basic Law Enforcement Training Program.
Officer William Rousseau, a graduate of St. Dominic Regional High School, will be working a beat on the force after working in the manufacture and layout designs of Computer Aided Dispatch.
Three officers were promoted to the rank of sergeant and one to lieutenant as part of the staff changes that went into effect in the spring.
Jason Moen, a member of the police force since 1995, was promoted to lieutenant. He has served as detective with the department, patrol sergeant, school resource officer and bike patrol supervisor. Moen currently oversees the domestic safety team, crash reporting system and policy review and development. He is also a nationally certified police ethics instructor and serves as deputy fire chief for the local volunteer fire department.
Tim Cougle, an officer with the department since 1997, was promoted to sergeant. Cougle, who has a bachelor’s degree in criminology, served on the patrolman’s union executive board for several years. Prior to his promotion, he was a field training officer and served as the school resource officer at Edward Little High School. Cougle is also a certified child passenger safety seat technician, emergency vehicle operations instructor and was recently assigned as the training coordinator for the department.
Eric C. Audette, a nine-year member of the force, was promoted to sergeant. He served as special agent with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency for two years and served on the executive board for the patrolman’s union as treasurer. He has also been secretary for the Police Benevolent Association for the past seven years and oversees the department’s firearms training and bike patrol union.
Scott Watkins, a policeman for 11 years, was promoted to sergeant. He has degrees from the University of Southern Maine and Southern Maine Technical College. Watkins is a member of the domestic violence safety team, the bicycle patrol team and is a certified child passenger safety seat technician. He is also an instructor for law enforcement students at Lewiston High School and Auburn’s Citizen Police Academy.
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