Families now a chief priority New jobs mean more stability

Luke Dyer loved being a policeman. But he loved his family more.

In September, he left the Madawaska Police Department, after more than a decade, to join the new economy. With two partners, he runs Adventures East, an Internet company selling custom fly-fishing rods and booking outdoor adventures.

He’s traded rotating patrol shifts for straight day work – and a larger paycheck. He arrives at his Edmundston, New Brunswick, office around 8 a.m. most days and leaves by 5 p.m., in time for dinner.

“I started noticing that my kids didn’t know who I was anymore,” said Dyer, 34, the father of a 14-year-old boy and twin 9-year-old girls. “I was missing my kids.”

Dyer joined a growing number of police officers who have traded their badges and guns for stability and – often – higher paychecks.

Firm figures are unavailable, but interviews with police administrators suggest that more people than ever are leaving police work.

They are joining established companies like Central Maine Power Co., Sears and MBNA. They are starting dot-com businesses and becoming computer consultants. In a few cases, they are driving trucks and running paper machines.

“People are just not staying in it,” said Pittsfield Police Chief Steven Emery, who lost three officers earlier this year. They included a five-year veteran who joined a trucking company that offers better health benefits than the town.

In June, Hampden Police Chief Joe Rogers lost a 14-year officer to the International Paper mill in Bucksport. The officer wanted a better schedule with more money.

“The economy is so good that everybody’s scrambling for employees,” he said.

Chris Fyfe patrolled the Sagadahoc County town of Richmond for 13 years, the last five of them as chief.

But last year, he left. He was burned out.

“It was time,” said Fyfe, an affable, soft-spoken 37-year-old.

These days, Fyfe sells appliances at Sears in Augusta. He makes less than the $32,000 he earned as Richmond’s chief, but for the first time he has a retirement plan.

He works a regular shift and then makes the 15-minute trip home, no longer worrying about being called out at all hours.

“It’s nice to know that when I go home, I can leave it all behind,” said Fyfe, whose once high blood pressure has fallen since he changed jobs.

Fyfe, whose wife also works at Sears, said the change has brought a sense of normalcy to their home life. After years of working all hours, he has more time for family.

“I lost nine years of watching my kids grow up,” said Fyfe, whose oldest child is 9 and youngest is 2. “It’s time to make up what I can.”

Luke Dyer’s love of family also drove him from police work.

In Madawaska, he said, officers face a series of three rotating shifts.

They work seven overnights, followed by two days off. Then they patrol seven evenings, with one day off. In the third week, they serve seven daytime shifts – and enjoy four days off.

“It left me with only one weekend off a month,” Dyer said recently.

Although he has missed his colleagues since joining Adventures East, he has more time for family. For him, that is what matters most.

“I wanted to be closer to my family,” said Dyer, who has topped his $34,000 police salary since he joined the company. “In order to be closer to my family, I had to have job where I was working the day shift.”