SKOWHEGAN — A 27-year veteran of Maine State Police who retired from the command staff this past summer with a rank of major, has been named the new deputy police chief.
Dale Lancaster, 56, of Cornville, will take over Dec. 5 for retiring Deputy Police Chief Rick Bonneau.
Lancaster was a Somerset County sheriff’s deputy beginning in 1974. He also was a Skowhegan police officer, achieving the rank of sergeant before joining Maine State Police in 1984. He later was commander of state police Troop C Barracks in Skowhegan before being promoted in 2007 to the rank of major, overseeing state police field troops and criminal divisions.
In  Dec. 2008, Lancaster completed an 11-week leadership academy at the FBI’s National Academy in Quantico, Va. The academy is offered only to command officers. Course work includes conflict resolution, ethics, decision making and legal issues.