Downtown Bangor’s walking beat officer starts this month

A Bangor police officer will begin patrolling downtown on foot at the end of this month.

Officer Keith Larby will check in with business owners and staff, as well as downtown residents and visitors , when he starts the new beat on May 28, Sgt. Jason McAmbley said.

The walking beat was revived after Bangor City Council asked Police Chief Mark Hathaway in a March meeting about how to address people using substances, experiencing mental health crises and loitering downtown.

Larby joined the Bangor police in January 2013, McAmbley said. An Old Town native, he graduated from the local high school in 2010 before attending Beal College, where he received a criminal justice degree.

Bangor had an on-foot officer patrolling downtown from around 2013 to 2021, when the department cut the beat because of staffing shortages.