Maine Lakes News

While at Cape Cod Hill School today we also had the opportunity to recognize our Deputy of the Year for 2022. Lt. David Rackliffe of Weld.  Pictured here are some of the staff with Lt. Rackliffe (center holding plaque) after he received his award. 

 Lt. Rackliffe distinguished himself by outstanding service throughout this year by balancing the arduous task of being the immediate patrol supervisor to three Patrol Sergeants with vastly different personalities and temperaments. All while continuing to mentor, monitor and assist in the continual education and growth of the entire patrol division.

Lt. Rackliffe is the first to show up and the last to take credit for any need within the agency. He identified an opportunity to modernize the agency and personally spearheaded the acquisition of brand-new dash and body camera systems not only for the patrol division but also making recording systems available to the investigation division. He has also spearheaded the acquisition of new agency ALPR speed trailer systems (in 2021) and when they were not fully operational spent countless hours coordinating and working with those required to make repairs.

Lt. Rackliffe’s measured and thoughtful responses to concerns all challenging situations brought to him have greatly benefited the agency by limiting or outright prohibiting internal conflicts between our officers as well as outside agencies. His continual foresight and cooperation with the Franklin County Administrators allowed us to prevent countless shortfalls by hiring two officers on “temporary full-time” statuses. Those officers eventually found permanent employment within the agency and have been recipients of continual high praise. Had Lt. Rackliffe not been willing to start that process, the agency could and would have been incredibly short-staffed and we would have lost the opportunity at employing such great deputies.

While managing the day-to-day operations of a Patrol Lieutenant, he is also the program coordinator for the Federal Stone Garden program and a spearhead of the K-9 program. Due to his efforts, the Stone Garden program has ensured excellent teamwork with our federal partners and has seen several successful apprehensions of “undocumented” personnel. The K-9 program under his stewardship has continued to grow and is prepared to provide our agency with a third fully qualified K-9 team this year allowing us to further succeed in providing a layer of safety to our community.

The above accomplishments of Lt. Rackliffe are only a drop in the bucket to what he has provided to this agency over the past several years. The superior efforts of Lt. Rackliffe reflect greatly upon himself and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. For the reasons and many more, Lieutenant B. David Rackliffe is recognized as Deputy of the Year for 2022.

Original source can be found here