The second in command for the Maine State Police will retire next month to take a position leading campus security at Bowdoin College.

Lt. Col. William Harwood has been hired as associate director of safety and security at the Brunswick campus.

His retirement ends a 30-year career with the state police, much of it spent leading the state’s crime laboratory. Harwood was associate director at the lab for seven years until 2008, and served as director from 2010 to 2018.

Harwood, of Winthrop, starts the new role March 28. Bowdoin announced the hire Feb. 11. His last day with state police will be March 4, a spokesperson for the department said.

The hiring is the second time in four years that a top state police official has retired to take a position in campus security. In 2018, Colby College in Waterville hired Robert Williams, then head of the state police, to lead its security team.