PRESQUE ISLE – Three local law enforcement officers were deputized Wednesday as U.S. marshals in a special ceremony performed by David Viles, U.S. marshal for the Maine district.

Deputy Dan Robertson of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department, Detective Wayne Selfridge of the Presque Isle Police Department and Officer Chris Thornton of the Caribou Police Department were authorized during the ceremony for the sole purpose of functioning under the guidance of the FBI in Maine, Viles said Wednesday.

“The FBI realized after 9-11 that we needed to get more involvement by local police,” Jim Osterrieder, supervisor for the FBI in Maine, explained after the ceremony.

The agency realized it needed a core group of terrorist investigators throughout the state to enforce and investigate federal crimes and intelligence issues, Osterrieder said.

The deputized officers will be able to do that.

There will be a total of six officers in Aroostook and Washington counties authorized to work for the FBI.

Detective Dale Keegan of the Maine State Police will be deputized at a later date.

Detective Brian Smith of the Maine State Police and Deputy Frank Gardner of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department were deputized in an Aug. 19 ceremony in Bangor.

The Maine office of the FBI has 31 deputized law enforcement officers throughout the state. The office would like to increase that number to 40 in the near future.