Partners for Peace thanks area law enforcement with breakfast

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Through its mission of providing information and support to people of all ages affected by abuse and domestic violence throughout the region, staff at Partners for Peace work closely with area law enforcement. Often Partners for Peace personnel and police officers are together during times of crisis, so the organization hosted members of the various law enforcement agencies for a pancake breakfast at the Mechanic Street location on Jan. 26.

“This is just really to thank them for the good work they do for the domestic violence victims,” Partners for Peace Advocacy Program Manager Cindy Freeman Cyr said. “We work together all the time but we do not always have time to sit down and talk, so we thought it would be nice to sit down and have breakfast.”

Members of Dover-Foxcroft Police Department, Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office and Piscataquis County District Attorney’s Office were enjoying breakfast, and Partners for Peace officials hoped officers from the Dexter and Milo police departments would be able to stop by later in the morning.

“It is just a little time to gather without the stress of being focused on the victim in that particular moment,” Freeman Cyr said.

“It is critically important we have effective partnerships because people experiencing domestic violence need us and they need police to intervene,” she said. Freeman Cyr said a number of law enforcement staff in the region have served the area for many years and even multiple decades “and they are very good at what they do.”

“These functions help with the relationships,” said Piscataquis County District Attorney’s Office Domestic Violence Investigator Scott Arno, who previously was a lieutenant with Dover-Foxcroft Police Department where he served for 31 years before retiring in 2017. Arno said he has worked with Partners for Peace and its previous incarnations in different capacities over the decades.

Freeman Cyr said Bob’s Sugar House namesake Bob Moore donated maple syrup for the pancakes and Center Coffee House owner Lor Sharrow provided coffee. “So we received good support from the community,” Freeman Cyr said in thanking the two Dover-Foxcroft businesses for the meal contributions.

A domestic violence awareness ribbon