HALLOWELL — After spending nearly three years as Hallowell’s police chief, Scott MacMaster has resigned for personal reasons and accepted a position as a patrol officer with the Gardiner Police Department.

Hallowell police Chief Scott MacMaster has announced his resignation from the department and accepted a position as a patrol officer with the Gardiner Police Department. His last day as chief is expected to be Feb. 17. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal file

MacMaster gave his notice Jan. 24, informing the city he had accepted a patrol position in Gardiner. He is to begin working in Gardiner, where he previously served for nearly a decade, later this month.

“I am looking forward to this exciting opportunity, however, (saddened) to think about leaving this city and all the professional and personal contacts and friends I have made,” MacMaster wrote in the letter announcing his departure. “My resignation is for personal reasons that have (afflicted) me for a while, and I feel I owe it to my family and profession to try this new endeavor in my career.”

Hallowell City Manager Gary Lamb said at his request, MacMaster had extended his last day as Hallowell chief from Feb. 13 to Feb. 17.

Lamb said he is now in talks with Mayor George Lapointe about appointing an interim chief, which officials hope to do during the next City Council meeting Feb. 13.

Lamb said Thursday he hopes to have a job posting out by Friday.

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As police chief, MacMaster’s current annual salary is $75,457.

He will earn $29.10 an hour in his new position, which is not salaried. That amounts to $60,528 a year if MacMaster works a typical 40-hour week, although Gardiner City Manager Andrew Carlton said he expects overtime will be required some weeks.

MacMaster, who did not respond Thursday to requests for comment, got his start in Hallowell, where he was appointed as an officer in 1994. He then worked as a Gardiner police officer from 1999 to 2007, and was named chief in Richmond in 2010.

He served as Richmond’s police chief until March 2020, and was appointed as Hallowell’s chief later that month.

In the year and a half he has worked with MacMaster, Lamb said he has enjoyed their interactions.

“I think he liked being a chief, and I appreciate that,” Lamb said. “His interactions with (the) council and the community have been positive, and I’m sorry to see him go.”

Carlton, Gardiner’s city manager, said he and others in the city are excited to have MacMaster joining the Police Department.

“We all know law enforcement officers don’t grow on trees,” Carlton said, “so when a seasoned officer wants to come and join your department, you take a look at that.”

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