By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

 Last month, 31-year-old Gorham resident Christopher Todd kicked in the front door of a house in South Portland and ran inside. 

 Todd was the first police officer to arrive at the home where two people lay inside, rendered unconscious by carbon monoxide gas emitted from a faulty heating system. “[Todd’s] actions contributed to saving the lives of a mother and her 10-year-old son,” According to a press release from South Portland Police department. Todd said having a role in important events in the city is what attracted him to the job in the first place.

“I like to be a part of everything. You can hear about a lot of stuff happening but I like to be a part of it. Right in the middle of it, if I can,” he said. “It would be easy for me to say I want to protect and serve, but everybody has read the side of the cruiser already.”

Last week, South Portland Police Chief Edward Googins announced that Todd had been selected by his superiors as the city’s “officer of the year” not only for of his heroic actions last month, but for being “an enthusiastic officer who works hard every night” for the past nine years.

“I love it. I can’t believe I’ve already been here for nine years,” Todd said. “It’s like being part of a big extended family.”

It isn’t the first time Todd has been recognized for his performance on the job; in 1999 he was named the “corrections officer of the year” at the Cumberland County Jail. Although he always wanted to be a police officer, Todd said working at the jail for three years helped him get his foot in the door for a career in law enforcement. 

“I had just finished studying at [Southern Maine Community College] when the position opened up, so I figured ‘What the heck, I’ll try it.’”

Todd said he quickly learned that corrections work “was not for everybody.” Todd was happy to not be working at a desk or in an office every day, but working in a prison takes some getting used to, he said.

“You show up for work and they lock you in there with the inmates for eight hours,” Todd said. “After a while you start to feel like you’re in jail too.”

Working with inmates with mental health problems and trying to rehabilitate perpetual offenders was more challenging than coping with the physical environment of the prison, Todd said. 

“In jail, you only deal with 100 percent of the bad, which is really only the same 5 percent of the population,” he said. “You see somebody get out and you hope maybe they won’t come back, but after a while you realize there is a revolving door.”

In 2000, even though he knew little about the city, Todd traveled to South Portland to take a written exam for an opening in the police department. 

“I was looking for something in South Portland, Gorham or even the sheriff’s department,” he said. “It was an extremely competitive process then, there were between 100 and 125 guys taking the test. Now we’re lucky to get 20.”

Ultimately, Todd was selected from the large pool of applicants and decided to head straight to the police academy rather than waiting, as new officers were allowed to delay the training for up to a year, he said.

“I was sworn in on a Friday and I was at the academy on Monday,” he said. 

Todd said his background in corrections helped him during his 12-weeks “learning the system” at the police academy, and still comes in handy as a police officer. 

“Just the other day we had a call, somebody had stolen some [televisions] from Sears,” he said. “I thought I recognized the guy on the tape so I called him up. He said he didn’t know anything about any [televisions], so I said ‘Before you say another word, think about it. I was in the same cell block as you and now I’m looking at you on a video tape.’ He hung up, and there’s a warrant out for his arrest now.”

Assigned primarily to patrol the west end of South Portland, Todd said he quickly learned a lot about different areas of the city. 

“When I started I was familiar with the mall area, but that was about it,” he said. “South Portland is like two cities, one end is residential and the other is highly developed commercial. It’s completely different.”

Todd said he also quickly learned that drugs are more prevalent in the city than he would have believed before seeing the problem first-hand. 

“It’s like it’s out of control. It’s everywhere, which was something I had my eyes opened up to,” he said. “It’s a never ending problem, but you do what you can.”

At the beginning of his career, Todd worked the overnight shift – a task he said “is just not natural.”

“I can sleep during the day, so it wasn’t that bad,” he said. “After a while, no matter how much sleep you get you end up being tired halfway through your shift.”

After three years working strictly at night, Todd said he joined a “swing team” and was able to work some second shifts during the week. Getting used to working in the daylight took some time, he said. 

“When you’re working an overnight you get a lot of drinking calls and OUIs. If you see a kid with a hooded sweatshirt wandering around it’s probably something to look into,” he said. “Second shift is more speeding details, dealing with neighbor complaints and accidents. There’s a lot more traffic too, which can be frustrating.”

Todd said domestic disturbances are the most difficult calls to respond to, regardless of when they come in. 

“You show up to a domestic violence call and sometimes you’ll see a kid who is just watching everything that’s going on, and it’s probably not the first time,” he said. “That just kills me.”

Now, Todd said his current shift enables him to be home with his wife and three kids every night, but he said a big part of being a police officer is learning to deal with unexpected work hours. A member of the city’s Special Reaction Team and a Field Training Officer, he said he can be “forced into work” at any time, including holidays. 

“I worked the overnight shift Christmas Eve my first year then got forced to work the day shift, which was interesting,” he said with a chuckle. “We get a decent amount of time off, though, and we need it. It can take some time to recoup mentally.”

Todd said he has no plans to leave law enforcement, although he would be interested in taking on the duties of a police detective in the future. 

“A lot of times I don’t have the time to see a case get resolved. I have to do as much as I can in my shift and then pass it to the detectives because I’m on to the next thing,” he said. “Sometimes it’s frustrating to not see everything through to the end.”

As part of his “Officer of the Year” recognition, Todd will receive two paid vacation days, a plaque, an award pin and was expected to be recognized by the city council during their meeting earlier this week.