Norway Patrol Officer Belaal Khan A.M. Sheehan

NORWAY — Western Maine is a far sight different than a NJ “village” with a population of more than 13,000. Yet Norway Police Patrol Officer Belaal Khan, 24, wants to make Western Maine his home. Kahn is currently residing in Bridgton.

Born in New York and having grown up in the Bronx, Khan says he was seeking a quieter life. He loves suburbs and nature, and he is familiar with the area, having spent his childhood traveling through it on the way to visit family in Ontario. Here, he says, he is closer to family and gains the rural aspect he wants.

Ever since childhood, he says, he has wanted to enter either law enforcement or the military. Although he was only a year old when 9/11 happened, his dad worked in New York City, and he saw the damage and grew up with the stories of the bravery and sacrifice of the first responders. Thus, in the ninth grade, he started to focus on law enforcement or military special forces.

“How the community came together (after 9/11) really impacted me,” he explains.

As the prospect of him joining the military was extremely worrying to his mother, he settled on a service career in law enforcement.

“I wanted to give back to the community and country. I put on the vest and badge to help other people.”

Khan was attending college when COVID hit, and his dad was going through Parkinson’s treatment. With both his mother and sister working full time, he stepped up to help his dad. His dad, he says, is now off medication and much better.

To start his law enforcement career, he went to a small town in Virginia. However, wanting to be closer to family, he began looking for opportunities in this area. The town of Cumberland was hiring, he says, and it accepted his VA qualifications. He worked for them for a year.

“One of the sergeants recommended that if I wanted more experience (than CPD offered), I should come up here, he explains. So he did. He did some ride-alongs with both Norway and Oxford Police, but Norway had the first opening and reached out.

Currently, Khan is completing field training under the tutelage of K9 Unit Officer John Lewis. He has completed the required crash investigation course. His Virginia certification required more academy hours than Maine, so as soon as his field training is completed in June, he will sit for the state exam.

He aspires to learn as much as he can. He is particularly interested in the Western Maine Regional Warrant Team, polygraphic training, drone operations, and K-9 work. Khan says he loves tech and building computers.

“I’m an open book, the more training the better!” he grins.

“I want to interact with people. We see the best and the worst, and I want to help people out of a bad situation and get them help.”