A ‘Big’ opportunity Bangor police detectives enjoy role in Kids N Cops program

When Brandon Cook, 12, moved to Orono from Jacksonville, Fla., his older

brother did not relocate with the family.

For years, Brandon and Wesley Cook had played football and basketball together, and the younger brother said it was different without his elder companion.

Then his mother suggested he enroll in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Maine.

“There was a long wait,” Cook said on Wednesday.

Cook is one of nine area children who are participating this week in Kids N Cops, a program that partners the mentoring organization with the Bangor Police Department. Bangor Detectives Cliff Worcester and Chris Stevens spend all week with the kids, serving as surrogate Big Brothers, and taking the children on various adventures throughout the region.

The weeklong program was designed to give kids on the “Big” waiting list an opportunity to enjoy field trips, similar to day camp. There are more than 150 kids in the Penobscot County area on the waiting list ready to be matched with mentors, and nearly 90 percent of them are boys, said Stacey Coventry, mentoring coordinator for the organization.

On Wednesday, the kids toured the Maine Air National Guard base in Bangor, visiting the airplane hangar, vehicle maintenance facility, security office, fire station and other departments.

“I’m surprised how big [the planes] are, and how much they can hold,” said Dempsey Oliver, 11, of Old Town. Oliver said the airplane tour was the highlight of his Guard experience.

The group spent Monday in Bar Harbor getting to know one another and playing miniature golf, Coventry said. Tuesday the kids went to the Bangor Fire Department, Eastern Maine Medical Center and the Maine Discovery Museum.

Today, the kids will work with the detectives patrolling the streets of Bangor and keeping a watchful eye on speeding motorists, Worcester said. If the kids and detective encounter a speeding vehicle, Worcester or Stevens will stop the driver, warn them about speeding, and then explain the Kids N Cops program. The kids will then issue a warning to the motorist.

“It is a very lucky day for [the driver] because they are getting out of the ticket,” Worcester said with a chuckle.

Stevens said he enjoys the week out of the office, and as a father he recognizes the value of the program.

“The ones who don’t have a real male role model in life tend to benefit more from the program,” Worcester said. “Those from single parent homes are oftentimes living with mom.”

After waiting for more than a year, Cook found out about a month ago that he had been matched with a Big Brother.

“We’re probably going to be a good match,” Cook said. “We’re going to play golf, watch UMaine football and baseball games, and go fishing.”