When asked, I say my all-time favorite book is a collection of essays by Patricia Leimbach, A Thread of Blue Denim. Leimbach knows how to appreciate moments in life,; a trip to sell eggs, running to the store for parts for a tractor, the backyard as the setting for every children’s adventure novel. Timothy Cotton’s collection, The Detective in the Dooryard: Reflections of a Maine Cop, is going on the shelf next to Leimbach’s books.
Timothy Cotton is a detective lieutenant with the Bangor Maine Police Department. He has been a police officer for over thirty years. He loved being a detective in the Criminal Investigation Division, but, when he went for a promotion to sergeant the only position available was as public information officer. The job included writing the Facebook page for the department. By now, there are over 300,000 followers on the page. The posts are sarcastic at times, but the humor is always gentle. Cotton’s overall tone is always kind.
And, that’s the tone of the book. Cotton always writes with kindness as he relates stories of the people he interacts with, whether those people are homeless men on the street, a widow who found her husband after he committed suicide, the clerk at a convenience store, or the young man with a warrant he can’t pay, but has enlisted and is leaving for boot camp.
When I started following the Bangor Maine Police Dept. on Facebook, three elements stood out. Once a week, Cotton had a piece got “Got Warrants”. He includes forty pages of those stories here, poking fun of the ridiculous things criminals do, while leaving the criminals and the police anonymous. He also tells stories of the Duck of Justice, a stuffed duck he rescued from a trash can in the DA’s office in 2009. Now, people travel from all over the country and some foreign countries to take pictures with the duck.
Here’s what stands out for me. At a time when people don’t trust police, Timothy Cotton tells stories of everyday life, of police officers who interact with the community. Yes, they investigate crime, and have to deal with that, but Cotton points out that he’s spent so much time over the years listening to people, and trying to understand them. Not everyone reacts well to kindness and a conversation, but what does it hurt to start with that?
I cried through the entire last section of the book, the “anonymous” accounts of “The Cop” who stopped regularly to check on the ninety-one year old woman who, in return, made him banana bread. This is the cop who sent a marine off to camp after paying his fine and buying him a hamburger. This is the cop who sometimes needs to stop home in the middle of a shift after dealing with a death or a tragedy. He stops just to have a few minutes to tell his wife, to have an ear.
Yes, I have a couple stories about police officers who were kind. Maybe, in these troubled times, it would be called white privilege. Maybe so. But, human to human, I call it kindness. And, that’s what Timothy Cotton’s The Detective in the Dooryard is all about, taking the time to listen and be kind.
If you’ve read a few of the posts on Facebook from the Bangor Maine Police Department, you know how Timothy Cotton signs off. It’s the perfect summary for this book of essays. “Keep your hands to yourself, leave other people’s things alone, and be kind to one another. We will be here. TC BPD.”
Timothy Cotton writes the posts on Facebook for the Bangor Maine Police Department, and he has his own Facebook page at Tim Cotton, @Tim CottonWrites.
The Detective in the Dooryard: Reflections of a Maine Cop by Timothy Cotton. Down East Books, 2020. ISBN 9781608937424 (hardcover), 288p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.
Nice review. When you first mentioned this, I was immediately interested, and now I will definitely look out for it.
One of the books I am reading currently came directly from a review of yours last week. It is the first Alaska book by Heather Lende. I could never live there, but I enjoy reading about it.
I agree with you, Jeff. I have no interest in living in, or even visiting Alaska, but I don't mind reading about it. And, I definitely enjoy Heather Lende's writing about it.
Oh I'd love to visit Alaska one day (and I don't even like travelling…) but I think I'll wait not only for this virus to have gone away but also for a different incumbent in your White House. Let's hope neither present too long a wait…
Timothy Cotton sounds great, Lesa, I am going to subscribe to his page. Our own police have their ups and downs with the public, but on the whole I think most people (or as you say, maybe that's white privilege talking..) in the UK do trust them and would go to them in times of crisis or need. The ones I have come across have been very friendly and kind. It is still quite normal here to approach a police officer on the street if you are lost or have a problem – even in London.
I've probably mentioned before the brilliant TV series 'Our Friends in the North', which was made in 1995 but covers the period 1963-1985. Part of it follows one of the key characters (played by a VERY different and much younger Daniel Craig!) from Newcastle to London, where he starts to work for one of the Mr Bigs of the Soho nightclub/porn scene. In those days Soho was unbelievably seedy – now of course it is all hipster bars and unaffordable property prices. There was an immense amount of corruption in the Metropolitan Police back then, and the series really shows what it was like. Nowadays that has all been cleaned up – but the far more recent series 'Line of Duty' strongly suggests that corruption has not gone away. But it's the police officers on the street who have to deal with the public, and on the whole I think they do that pretty well. There is one who runs a twitter page where he presents and discusses problems that the front line police have had to deal with – of course all names are removed – and asks people what they think would have been the right answer. It's interesting to see how often common sense prevails – they don't always come down hard on people – eg one scenario concerned a driver stopped during the early days of lockdown, when no-one was supposed to be undertaking any unnecessary travel. The driver explained that he was on his way to collect his daughter from university, as this was now closed and she was stranded in another city. The correct approach turned out to be that the explanation should be accepted, and the driver advised to proceed, then to get home with his child as soon as possible, stopping only if he needed petrol or had some similar issue. He said 'the police do not want any young person to be unnecessarily alone in this situation.' As my husband had to do a 'mercy dash' to Dundee to collect my younger daughter a day into lockdown (they were not stopped), I was quite relieved to read this.
Sorry, I have wandered from the theme as usual – I'd better stop now!
You have not at all wandered from the theme, Rosemary. Actually, that's what Timothy Cotton's book is all about – listening and kindness, which includes a lot of common sense. There still are good cops out there, who went into it for the right reasons. Yes, there is corruption. Here are my two stories – I was home from college, working and driving home from work at 8:30 at night in my small hometown. A policeman pulled me over. One of my tail lights was out. I hadn't driven the car in a week because my sister had it to go to the fair, so I had no idea. This police officer followed me home to make sure I got there safely, and just told me to get it fixed. That was it. The other story happened after my husband died. He had a gun in the house. He was licensed and had trained to use it. I didn't want it in the house, and I am not trained, and have no interest in guns. I called the police department. They sent a policeman out who gave me receipt, talked about how they destroy guns, and was kind and listened. I've actually worked with police over the years in my job, especially when I was in Arizona. But, my two personal encounters were nice. So, now I'm the one who wandered off. There are nice policemen in the world, just as there are nice people everyplace. It's person by person. It's good to read about kind people with common sense.
Thanks Lesa, I'm so glad you have also had positive experiences with the police. Now I think about it, my husband was also once followed home by a police car when one of his rear lights had gone, and again they were very nice about it.
And that's great the the policeman who collected your husband's gun was so kind. I'm like you, even were it a common thing in the UK (which it most definitely isn't) I would not want one in my house – it's only really farmers who have licensed guns around here, and the rules are very strict.
And yes, we need more stories about kind people – that's why I want to see the film 'It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood' sometime.
Oh, I loved that film, Rosemary. It made me feel good, cry, and, yes, want to be kinder.
I have had many policemen in my family. I put this book on my library list!
This is one you'll enjoy, Gram. It will feel comfortable and familiar.
Lesa – Thanks for the tip. Cotton’s book and Leimbach’s, too, are now on my list.
Elgin, I love both of the books. I hope you enjoy them!
Love this review! I got my copy of the book today! I ran across Tim's writing on the Bangor PD site a few years ago and he is everything you say. Having some real "Maine characters" only adds to the fun and smiles. I even have a Duck of Justice t-shirt because the site was so fun and some of the funds went to charity in Bangor. (I'm in California). I'm really looking forward to reading the book and savoring it over time. I know there will be some touching stories, too. Thanks for your great description, Lesa, it's great some new people will find Mr. Cotton and his writing!
Andi, Since you already read Tim Cotton's writing, you're going to enjoy the book as much as I did. I love that you have a Duck of Justice t-shirt!
Yes, funny stories and touching ones. Just what you would expect from him. I hope there are a few discoveries. He's an excellent writer.