Retired police chief becomes private investigator

LINCOLN – Hank Dusenbery doesn’t golf. Nor does he do much fishing, hunting or kayaking, and while he enjoys skeet shooting and rebuilding antique Jeeps, the 59-year-old couldn’t imagine doing that full time.

So the retired Lincoln police chief decided to become something else – a private investigator.

“I need to stay busy,” Dusenbery said Friday, “and this is an area where I have some expertise. Here, everything is variable. You don’t have the same thing to do over and over again. You’re still dealing with people.

“And if I didn’t,” he added wryly, “I’d probably stay home and drive my wife crazy.”

DSCI, or Dusenbery Security Consulting & Investigations, became official when Dusenbery received his license from state police on Sept. 1. Thus he became probably the first private investigator to base himself in the Lincoln Lakes and Katahdin regions, said Kevin J. Surette, president of the Maine Licensed Private Investigators Association.

Of the association’s 66 members – Dusenbery has applied to join and will be No. 67 or 68 – none has an office or resides in either area, said Surette, a private investigator based in Litchfield.

The voluntary association has about a quarter of the state’s roughly 250 licensed private investigators, Surette said. A search of 411.com and the association’s roster on Friday revealed seven national or regional firms and six individuals or firms in Bangor. More agencies are based in different areas, including Augusta, Biddeford, Houlton, Kennebunk, Lewiston, Portland, Rockland, Vassalboro, Washburn and Waterboro.

The number of licensed private investigators was not immediately available from state police on Friday.

Dusenbery might find that being a pioneer to the area is hard work, said Bucky Buchanan, a Bangor police patrolman who worked with his late father at Carl E. Buchanan Associates of Bangor from 1984 to 2006. The lack of attorneys in either region might be a hindrance.

“It’s usually difficult to hang a shingle out and do this,” Buchanan said Friday. “He has an advantage because a lot of people know him, but the hard part of this business is that there are lot of PIs regularly used by lawyers. What he is going to have to do is sell himself to those lawyers.”

With confidentiality at a premium in private investigations, it’s not easy for lawyers or other clients to extend trust to fledglings, Surette said.

“You have to prove yourself to lawyers, insurers and clients,” added Buchanan, whose father started the firm in 1975.

And marketing is a huge, grinding chore, Surette said.

Dusenbery was Lincoln’s police chief for four years after almost 25 years with the state police, where he served in patrol, commercial vehicle enforcement and, briefly, as a narcotics officer. He left his Lincoln post on July 2.

His experience will help him with surveillance, workers’ compensation, insurance claims and background checks as an investigator; accident investigation, witness statement collection, process serving and personal injury investigation for attorneys; and personal and property security assessments for businesses and homeowners, he said.

“My knowledge and experience have lots of applications,” Dusenbery said.

One key element a private investigator needs, Buchanan said, Dusenbery has in abundance: people skills.

“He’s a nice guy, engaging and personable, and those are good qualities for an investigator,” Buchanan said. “The bottom line is, you have to beat the pavement and talk to people and get them to talk to you. He certainly has the right attitude for that.”

After his size – he’s 6 feet 4 inches tall, 290 pounds and in his prime could bench-press 465 pounds – Dusenbery’s unassuming thoughtfulness and reserve are perhaps his most striking qualities, said Theresa Savage, a waitress at Mill Street Diner, where Dusenbery is a regular.

“All I can think of when I think of him is a big old teddy bear,” Savage said. “He really is a very gentle person.”

Dusenbery likely will get referrals from association members who need a set of gumshoes on the ground in northern Penobscot County, Surette said, and Dusenbery already is practicing the marketing and discretion his new profession requires.

He spent much of Friday telephoning old contacts all over the state, having just returned from a business meeting earlier this week in Presque Isle. And if he has done any work, he’s not telling.

“Let’s just say I’m working on some things,” he said with a smile.

He is, after all, a private investigator.

Dusenbery can be reached at P.O. Box 292, Lincoln 04457, and at 290-1531.