One of the hardest stories to write came Tuesday, Feb. 25, when we broke the news of Monster’s passing. Monster was a beloved K-9 unit for the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police Department. Seven years ago, when he was first brought to the community, there were donations collected by area elementary school students for that animal. For those who encountered Monster when he was on duty, if you weren’t his target, he was a great dog. Neighbors of the Moel family have shared how lovely that dog was, well behaved. A delight to be neighbors to.

We may not ever know what happened to cause Monster to end up from his home on West Market Street and over at the ponds south of Brothers Market.

But the grief felt by everyone in the police department and community on breaking that news that a search was called off Tuesday morning because the lost was found deceased was real.

Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police Department is also going to be losing more than 70 years of law enforcement experience this year. Officer Jeff Frankfurt officially retired from the department Tuesday, Feb. 25, drawing to a close a career in law enforcement that lasted more than 30 years. He was one of the officers who was recruited to Lisbon and transferred over to the joint Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police Department, and knew about policing in a small town.

Chief Doug Shannon also announced his plans to retire at the end of July, drawing to a close a nearly 35 year career in law enforcement, most of it here in Mount Vernon. Shannon has been a huge advocate for first responders of all types, not only serving as police chief but sitting on our local Emergency Management Association board and helping with the Lisbon-Mount Vernon Ambulance Service’s board as well.

One of the biggest accomplishments for Shannon may have been the combined law enforcement coverage that we see in the communities of Mount Vernon and Lisbon today.

For our two communities pooling resources, we’ve been able to have 24/7 law enforcement coverage with a robust police department and reserves officers. As the city council attested, that there isn’t a huge amount of controversy in the department or them making headlines for anything but doing their jobs in keeping us safe comes from the way the department is managed.

We know the search for the next chief will involve the communities of Mount Vernon and Lisbon working together to find the right candidate in the next few months.