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The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed University of Maine’s chief of police to be the state’s next U.S. Marshal.
President Barack Obama nominated Noel March to the post in December.
March was eating lunch in Bangor with two senior managers of the Marshals Service in Maine when his cell phone starting ringing off the hook, the chief said. Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Mike Michaud both called March to congratulate him on his confirmation, which passed unanimously in the Senate Thursday afternoon.
The police chief said elation was his initial reaction, but he is also anxious to take on his new role with the federal government.
“Nervous? Of course. It’s a huge responsibility,” March said. “To say I wasn’t nervous would mean that I don’t care as much as I truly do.”
March’s last day as chief of police for UMaine will be April 30. He said overseeing the security of the 2010 commencement ceremony will be his last act with the university for which he has worked for more than eight years. Afterward, he plans to take some time off before flying to Washington, D.C., to be sworn in.
In April 2009, a representative for Michaud asked March to submit his résumé for consideration for U.S. Marshal. March was certain that, as a Republican, he would not be nominated. According to March, the representative assured him that Michaud was “more interested in what is in a person’s resume than who is in their Rolodex.”
“This entire process has been a lesson in civics and patience,” March said.
He has been through “a full year of background checking, interviewing, vetting and preparing” for the questions he has had to answer before his confirmation.
After leaving campus police, March’s second-in-command, Capt. Roland LaCroix, will temporarily take over the responsibilities of chief of police, March said. The university, which oversees the campus police department, will begin the process of officially hiring a new chief shortly thereafter. March said he hopes the university will choose LaCroix for the job.
“Roland LaCroix has proven to be a trusted and competent campus police leader over the last year and a half,” March said. “He has my full support.”
“This is a very important federal law enforcement position in Maine that requires experience and integrity,” wrote Michaud in a statement Thursday. “Noel March has both. He is an expert in community policing and has a proven track record. The combination of his professional experience, organizational leadership and temperament make me confident that he will serve the District of Maine extremely well.”
Before coming to UMaine in 2002, March was director of the Maine Community Policing Institute, chief deputy sheriff of Cumberland County, a member of the 2002 Olympic Police Force in Salt Lake City and assistant vice president for MBNA. He is a graduate of the University of New England and the FBI National Academy.
Established in 1789, the Marshals Service’s responsibilities include protecting federal judicial officials, investigating and apprehending federal fugitives, running the Witness Security Program, transporting convicts and seizing illegally acquired property.
