Farmington recognizes top officers

FARMINGTON – Police Chief Jack Peck has announced the Employee of the Quarter and Employee of the Year for 2016, recognizing two Farmington Police Department officers.

Detective Darin Gilbert was recognized as the Employee of the Quarter for the fall of 2016. Peck cited Gilbert’s work on organizing a community fundraising event for the Travis Mills Foundation with the Farmington Fire Rescue and Walmart. The barbecue and raffle event raised more than $1,500, with a second event organized by Gilbert for the Lone Survivor Foundation raising another $1,000 on Memorial Day.

“This is true community policing,” Peck wrote in a letter announcing the award.

Peck also noted that Gilbert’s “diligent” work as detective in the fall had resulted in the arrests of a heroin trafficker and a suspect stealing prescription drugs from a residence. Both cases resulted in convictions.

Gilbert joined the department in 2000, following four years of work with the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office as a corrections sergeant. He was named the department’s Employee of the Year three times: 2005, 2009 and 2013, and has been an instructor both within the Farmington department and at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

Officer Michael Lyman was recognized as the Employee of the Year for 2016. Peck noted that Lyman had taken over the responsibility of training coordinator for the Farmington Police Department, as well as being the primary Field Training Officer. Lyman trained four new officers in the past year alone.

“Training these new officers for a minimum of ten weeks each is extremely time and labor intensive,” Peck wrote. “This is a very exacting job and you handled it exceptionally.”

Lyman had also arrested more than 30 individuals for operating under the influence and issued more than 100 criminal summonses, Peck said. Lyman was responsible for covering the fatal car crash on New Year’s Eve that killed a Wilton woman. The driver was arrested and eventually convicted.

Lyman also conducted the department’s physical agility testing and managed its 2016 OUI grant.

Lyman was hired by Farmington in August 2013. He was recognized as the department’s Employee of the Year in 2015.