In the public eye: Administrative Assistant at heart of Windham Police Department success

Editor’s note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce

The backbone of the Windham Police Department is made up of an administrative professional who keeps the office running smoothly through her expertise and efficiency. Randi Lemieux serves as the Records Administrative Assistant for the department and her job is not only complex, but also helps ensure compliance with all applicable laws and record keeping for the court process of law enforcement for Windham police officers.

Randi Lemieux has worked for the
Windham Police Department for 30
years as a part-time dispatcher, a
full-time dispatcher, and since 2010
she has served as WPD's
Administrative Assistant.
SUBMITTED PHOTO  

Her duties include processing records requests from officersssditant, the public and other agencies and preparing police cases for court and uploading them for the court process, including the report itself, peripheral paperwork, videos and other items. She also greets the public at the front window at Windham’s Public Safety Building, answers incoming calls to the police department, seeing that Windham officers comply with federal regulations regarding criminal justice information security, and she acts in a support role for Windham Patrol Captain Jason Burke and department officers.

She’s been a full-time Windham Police Department employee for 28 years but worked part-time for two years prior to that.

“I started as a part-time dispatcher and records clerk, became a fulltime dispatcher in April 1996, and then became Administrative Assistant in August 2010,” Lemieux said. “I like that I am able to work behind the scenes to help our officers, even in a small way, in whatever capacity that I am able and that no matter how long I am here, I always learn something new.”

According to Lemieux, the most challenging aspect of her work is balancing her daily duties with prioritizing requests from the officers, other agencies and the public, especially during busy times.

“But it is very satisfying when everything is complete, so I can be prepared for the next round,” she said.

Originally from South Florida, she had several other jobs before landing her job with the Windham Police Department.

“After marrying my husband who was in the Coast Guard, we moved around a bit, and settled in Virginia for 10 years,” Lemieux said. “I worked in the banking industry for several years and, during that time, I became a volunteer with a local rescue squad and I earned my EMT license. A fellow rescue squad member worked full-time as a police dispatcher which sounded interesting. Her department was hiring, so I applied for a dispatch position and was hired as a full-time dispatcher for the Hampton Police Department in 1993. I worked there for about year when my husband received orders to transfer to Maine in the summer of 1994.”

Wanting to continue her career as a public safety dispatcher, she called to ask about open dispatch positions when she moved to Windham.

“At that time, Windham had four full-time dispatch positions, so I was hired as a reserve dispatcher and would fill in occasionally,” she said. “A fifth position was added in 1996, and I was hired full-time. In August 2010, when our dispatch services were moved to Cumberland County Communications, I transferred from dispatcher to my current Administrative Assistant position.”

She says she’s been amazed at how much the Windham Police Department has grown over the years and how meaningful her duties are to the community.

“When records or other items are requested from us, it is not as simple as printing a document and sharing with someone,” Lemieux said. “There are laws that govern what we can or can't provide. Sometimes we can’t release information at all. Each request has to be reviewed to ensure that we stay within the guidelines of that law. We do our best to reply as quickly as possible.”

Lemieux says that the most important thing she’s learned while working for the Windham Police Department is something that is often overlooked or taken for granted.

“Our officers are men and women that chose a tough and often thankless, career,” she said. “They have families and experience emotion just like we do. They not only respond to emergencies, investigate crimes and deal with people under some very stressful circumstances, they also serve our community in so many ways, some that you might never expect. I appreciate and respect each of them.” <