After More Than Two Decades in Uniform, Edgecomb Turns to a New Role in Public Safety.
Feb 24, 2026
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Choco-Latté Café.
MOUNT DESERT—After 26 years in Mount Desert, Kevin Edgecomb is retiring from the Mount Desert Police Department, heading to a new chapter where he’ll still be focused on keeping people safe, officials said, just in a different way.
Mount Desert Public Safety Operations Coordinator Kevin Edgecomb has resigned to take a position at the Jackson Laboratory.
“There’s an opportunity that I really couldn’t pass up,” Edgecomb said. “I had a really good career and a really good run.”
Mount Desert and Bar Harbor Police Chief David Kerns said Edgecomb’s departure is bittersweet.
Everyone, Chief Kerns said, wants him to have a good next chapter—or maybe it would be appropriate to call it a good next shift—at the lab, but they’ll miss him and his dedication to community policing and massive amount of knowledge about Edgecomb’s own neighbors: the people of Mount Desert.
On February 23, a snowy evening via Zoom, the town’s selectboard accepted the resignation of the long-serving member of the town’s police department.
“Move acceptance with great thanks to Kevin for his service to the town and the community,” Vice Chair Wendy Littlefield said.
There was a chorus of seconds and a visibly moved Chair John Macauley said, “A great thanks to Kevin, he’s been a big part of the community for years.”
Edgecomb’s law enforcement career began in 1997 with preservice and then in April 1998 he worked for Ellsworth part-time. He added working for Mount Desert in December of that year.
A year later, Edgecomb began in Mount Desert full-time and was even the acting chief in 2005 during the transition from Chief John Doyle to Chief Jim Willis. He became a sergeant, then a lieutenant.
“In 2024 I took a step back to public safety office coordinator,” he said, Monday.
Edgecomb was a Maine Criminal Justice Academy Instructor and received the FBI Trilogy Award for leadership. He also was central to many community programs that the department runs to help seniors and was the Elder Service Officer of the Year for Maine in 2007.
“We grew up in the PDs together. The first 13 years we were divided by a town line, but for the last 13 we worked side-by-side for both towns,” Chief Kerns said. “He helped me understand the community policing side of that town.”
That part of law enforcement is a big part of what Edgecomb has been known for.
“My passion was community service,” Edgecomb said. “One of my favorite things (I participated in) just recently was just this past November.”
November was when Edgecomb and the department’s Mental Health Liaison Melissa Gleason ran a food drive at Hannaford in Bar Harbor. They collected nearly a ton of food and $1,700 in cash.
Edgecomb is also on the Neighborhood House board and is a staple at the community cafe events throughout the winter.
“I really enjoy that,” he said.
The new chapter has great highlights, too. Now, he won’t be on call for law enforcement emergencies, won’t have to work holidays, won’t have to work nights. It’s a big shift.
“I have had the honor of knowing Kevin for almost thirty years. He has consistently demonstrated professionalism, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to public service. In addition to his technical law enforcement skills, Kevin is known for being dependable, discreet, and highly ethical,” Anne-Marie Hart, the Neighborhood House’s executive director said. “Part of what he loved about being an officer in Mount Desert is the people—and the variety of people.”
Being an officer, even in a small town, often involves tough situations, heartbreaking moments, and some controversy, Edgecomb’s career was no exception, but Edgecomb’s focus as he retired was on the positive interactions with his neighbors and visitors who came to the island and community events.
”I met so many good people who were locals and summer residents,” he said.
He was on a detail for President Obama. He has met movie stars, people who worked on Wall Street, intellectual superstars.
“It’s really kind of unique down here,” he said.
Before he began his police work in 1997, Edgecomb worked at Dexter Shoe in both the Bangor and Ellsworth locations. He was assistant manager in Ellsworth.
“Some of my deescalation techniques I learned in retail,” he laughed.
And the lab?
“I think it’s going to be a good fit,” he said.
Some people retire and they move on, Chief Kerns said. “He’s going to be right here. We work with Jackson Lab all the time. It’s in a different role, but we’re not losing the connection.”
Connections matter to Edgecomb, too.
“What has always struck me about Kevin is his strong understanding of community policing principles, excellent communication skills, and sound judgment. His empathy and respect for all are noteworthy,” Hart said.
Being in the town for so long, he became a friendly face, someone people recognize when things might not be going so well or when they just had a question.
Though Chief Kerns said the department has a great staff to fill Edgecomb’s void, “we’re going to miss that. And I think the community will miss that.”
He likened it to when Jim Pinkham left Bar Harbor after decades of service. Everyone in town, he said, knew Pinkham.
“Everybody knew Kevin,” Chief Kerns said. “You earn that over 25-27 years of law enforcement in a community.”
His departure is, Chief Kerns reiterated, bittersweet.
Disclosure: I was once a part-time dispatcher for the Town of Mount Desert.
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