Oct 15, 2019
About the episode:
Lieutenant Tim Cotton from the Bangor Police Department is a 22-year veteran officer with a fondness for upholding the law and having a sense of humor.
His father was a police officer and he came off the beat in 1963. Tim didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps at first. Instead, he worked in radio, hosting local morning shows and writing newspaper articles. He sought out police work later in life compared to most officers. He had the inclination to go into law enforcement in the 1980s and hasn’t looked back since. His strong communications skills and background are what have led him to his unique position today. In addition to his roles within the department, he is best known for managing the Bangor Police Department’s Facebook page.
Cotton’s posts, which range from retellings of some emergency calls the department receives to photos of the famed “Duck of Justice” mascot, are comedic musings often written in a stream-of-consciousness, tongue-in-cheek manner.
In the episode:
1:12 – Nancy shares how podcasting has given her a breath of fresh air and shares the benefits of having a podcast.
2:20 – Nancy talks about building a tribe of brand ambassadors.
4:14 – Nancy invites Lt. Tim Cotton up and announces that he is the first guest to appear twice on the PR Maven® Podcast.
5:39 – Nancy reads Tim’s bio.
6:45 – Nancy shares a story about Tim attending a tourism trade show.
7:48 – Tim explains the story of the Traveling Duck of Justice.
9:24 – Nancy recalls her first podcast with Tim when they talked about Nancy’s pet duck.
11:06 – Tim talks about how he got the job of managing the Bangor Police Department’s Facebook page and what he did to grow the page.
12:25 – Tim talks about how NPR picked up a post he did on July 4th for Morning Edition.
13:31 – Nancy says Tim is an influencer and compares him to the Kardashians.
14:16 – Tim tells how his wife went to a conference and showed the keynote speaker the page, which he said was horrible.
16:00 – Nancy asks where Tim hopes to go with the page in the future.
17:48 – Nancy and Tim talk about the police department’s museum.
19:24 – Nancy mentions how Governor Janet Mills is a big fan of the Bangor Police Department Facebook page.
20:11 – Nancy asks if Tim has thought about expanding to different social platforms.
22:49 – Tim talks about how jealous the fire department is of the Duck of Justice.
23:44 – Tim shares his advice for creating an online community.
26:32 – Tim talks about selling the Duck of Justice shirts.
Quote:
“I’m not selling anything but jail.” — Lt. Tim Cotton, Bangor Police Department
Links:
Rising Tide: https://risingtidebrewing.com/
Looking to connect:
Bangor Police Department Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bangormainepolice/
Tim Cotton Writes Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimCottonWrites/