Feero is Brewer’s Police Officer of the Year
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

For the second time in four years, the city’s police force has selected Detective Nelson Feero as their Officer of the Year.

“It’s an accomplishment to attain this once,” Police Chief Perry Antone said just before Feero was presented a plaque and certificate of commendation at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

“We’re extremely proud of his capabilities and that he works for the Brewer Police Department,” the police chief said.

Feero, who started with the department in 2003, was named the 2008 Officer of the Year during a February department meeting. He earned the same honor in 2004, Lt. Chris Martin said Tuesday.

Before joining the Brewer police force, Feero was an officer for the University of Maine’s Public Safety Department. In addition to his detective duties, he also is the school resource officer for the Brewer High School, a post he acquired in 2007.

When it came time to vote on the Officer of the Year, three names topped the list, Antone said.

“Due to this, we felt we should honor all of them,” he said in his March memo to councilors.

Feero along with Detective Fred Luce and Officer Raymond “Jeff” Gotreau were awarded Meritorious Police Service awards and presented plaques at Tuesday’s meeting.

All three police officers “displayed outstanding performance, which includes but is not limited to: attendance, productivity, accomplishments, organizational commitment, judgment, decisiveness, and leadership,” Martin said in an e-mail.

Luce, who joined the department in 1996 is assigned to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration task force based in Bangor, has “generated cases from Fort Kent to South America,” the chief’s memo states. He also was named Officer of the Year in 1997. And he recently was presented a New England Narcotic Officer’s Association Special Achievement Award, and a national award from the DEA’s New England Region for his work in helping with the “dismantling of a criminal drug organization smuggling marijuana from Canada to the United States,” Martin said.

Antone described Luce as tenacious and dedicated and said he was extremely proud to have him as one of his officers.

Gotreau was hired in Brewer last year after working for the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department and the Dexter Police Department. Antone said Gotreau hasn’t been an officer for long but that he works like one who has a lot of experience.

As part of the Officer of the Year honor, Ferro’s photo will be posted alongside others on the Officer of the Year board, hanging on the wall at the police station. Last year’s honoree was Peter Rancourt, and Amy Nickerson earned the honor the year before.

A copyright story from the Bangor Daily News, Tuesday, April 28, 2009 by Nok-Noi Ricker.