Kennbunk Police Chief and Rotary Help Kids Hit The Restart Button
January 14th Meeting
Rick Murphy introduced Robert McKenzie, president-elect of the Kennebunk club. After having spent his adult life in public service, McKenize is Chief of Police in Kennebunk. At a York County Police Chief’s Meeting, he heard the District Attorney lament that they were having trouble finding community service projects for First time non-violent youth offenders. They needed better projects than washing a fire truck or police vehicle. With the back ground of being police chief and Rotarian, Bob hatched the idea or the “reset button” idea.
Utilizing a VIPS (Volunteer in Police Service) member who happened to be a former Rotarian as coordinator, they launched a pilot program in the Kennebunk Rotary Club. Bob has presented the idea locally to the Westbook club in addition to other clubs. He is hoping to get all the documentation and paper work together to present the idea to other counties.
In Kennebunk the Police meet with the offender’s parents and offer the immediate opportunity for “distraction” and not waiting for the DA which could take time.
The community service task could be a public or private project. Rotary’s umbrella liability insurance would provide coverage.
During his introduction, Rick noted that presently our club does a lot for advantaged youth-RYL A, Student of the Quarter, Ethics Essay Contest. Potentially this would open up another sector of youth who deserve another chance,