PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — So far, 2019 is looking like the year of the woman.
Janet Mills becomes Maine’s first female governor. Sarah Thomas became the first female to officiate an NFL playoff game. And Laurie Kelly becomes Presque Isle’s first police chief.
Friends, family and other chiefs have been calling Chief Kelly to congratulate her on this accomplishment, but being the first female chief was never her focus.
“I knew I would be if I got it, but that wasn’t necessarily a goal of mine. I’ve just been doing it and thought that one day I’d get this far,” Kelly said.
Sgt. Joey Seeley has worked alongside Chief Kelly for about 25 years. He says they trained together, patrolled together and supervised together.
Sgt. Seeley believes Chief Kelly is the right person for the job.
“I always knew she could do the job and there's no question there whatsoever and she will do a good job moving this police department where it needs to go,” Seeley said.
Kelly has been on the Presque Isle police force for close to 33 years. She says she’s always felt welcomed and accepted, even as the first female patrol officer.
“I think when I first came here, understandably some of them had thought ‘oh am I going to be able to back them up or am I going to be able to do it physically,’” Chief Kelly said. “Then it was like ‘oh she’s ours’ or they were very protective.”
Those she now manages have no doubt she’s the right person for the jobs.
“I always knew she could do the job and there's no question there whatsoever and she will do a good job moving this police department where it needs to go,” Sgt. Seeley said.
Women working in male dominated fields is becoming more common, but seeing it happen can still inspire young girls to reach their full potential.
“I think it just shows that woman can get into any field they want and excel at it and still reach the goals that they want,” Chief Kelly said.
Regardless of her gender, “I have always been basically one of the guys,” she said with a laugh.
Kelly joins the small club of five other female police chiefs in Wells, Ogunquit, Freeport, Wilton and Westbrook.