Job's stress took its toll after Maine police chief resigned: 'Too many deaths'

Citing the impact his job has had on his mental health, Baileyville’s police chief has announced he is retiring.

Bob Fitzsimmons, who grew up in Baileyville and has been the city’s police chief since 2013, said on the department’s Facebook page that he plans to resign at the end of this year. The rigors and challenges of the job have increased over the years and it is time for someone else to take on his responsibilities, he said.

“It’s been a tough five years for me in Woodland,” Fitzsimmons said, referring to the town’s colloquial name. “Too many deaths, too much ugliness to deal with.”

While many police officers and other first responders struggle with mental health issues related to their work, it is far less common for them to openly share these issues on platforms like Facebook.

Fitzsimmons said that during his time as Baileyville police chief, he has found 60 people or was with them when they died. He said he has received counseling and treatment and has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.

“There will always be another child, another person that I watched growing up, and another person watching over me. Friends, or friends of friends. It will never stop,” he said.

Fitzsimmons, 60, is known for his posts on the department’s Facebook page, where he sought volunteers to help residents or describe his interactions with local children. Often the posts reflected his wry sense of humor, but they also described the real struggles the locals were going through.

He said he has been extended “every courtesy” by the city manager and council, and that he considers it a privilege to have served as police chief, and before that in the law enforcement departments in Calais and Pleasant Point. But he said he plans to spend more time with his wife and work on his mental health so he can enjoy retirement.

“The police are in good hands now, I just hope I left Woodland a little better than it was,” he wrote.

Fitzsimmons encouraged anyone struggling with their mental health to be open about it and seek help.

“Mental health should be treated like any other illness or injury,” he wrote. “It’s okay to talk about it, it’s okay to seek treatment without shame, it’s all going to be okay.”

___

Visit the Bangor Daily News (Bangor, Maine) at www.bangordailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.