From the Sheriff:
With a heavy heart we say good-bye to former Sheriff John Goggin: boss, mentor, friend. For 45 years John gave his heart and strength to the folks of Piscataquis County. He was a good cop, superb investigator and became a friend to hundreds. In an era when Community Policing was a big thing, when leaders attended seminars and rolled out programs designed to build bridges between law enforcement and citizen, John never saw the need. It was how he lived, and how he taught his force to live. These we serve are our neighbors and friends. We don’t just work here, we live here; build our lives, raise our families, do our best to serve and protect, here, our hometowns.
I learned much from John. Being Sheriff means not so much chasing the bad guys anymore. Rather, days are spent in meetings, reading reports and studies, policies and budgets, and personnel issues. But John was always a street cop at heart. His eyes lit up when he had the chance to work a major case. He often reminded us that these crimes may be “cases” to us, but to the victims they are life marking events; we do our best for them. He taught us law work was about more than arresting. It was problem solving, mediating disputes, and looking out for the vulnerable and those down and out.
He never allowed the office to become political and never intervened in an investigation as a favor. If you were on solid legal footing and had a sound reason for what you were doing, he had your back.
The Sheriff is at once the jailer, civil processor, and top law officer. From 911 dispatch, to inmates, to folks on the street, he reminded us that these are people’s lives, tread carefully. In the jail, he carried on the philosophy he learned from his predecessor, Sheriff Frank Murch: each inmate is a human being to be treated with innate dignity and respect.
He guided the SO through cultural changes, landmark legal rulings, rising technology and an avalanche of new regulations. When we’d get excited about some new technology or method, he wouldn’t hold us back, but he would remind us crime is still best solved the old-fashioned way; talk to people, they know what you need to know.
The last few years of his career I noticed a change. He talked less about cases and incidents, less about politics and people. More about family, his family. Stories of times they spent together, places they went, the things they did. He wanted to be home.
We’re grateful for the years he gave. Our hearts grieve with his family. His influence will remain. I will still have those times when I think, “hmmm, what would John do now?” Thanks, John
Sheriff Bob Young
Original source can be found here
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