Groton — When Mike Spellman came to the Groton City Police Department in 2014, it was after a 25-year career with the state police that took him across eastern Connecticut in a variety of roles.

On Monday, he was sworn in as police chief.

Spellman served as East Lyme’s resident state trooper from 1991 to 1993. He helped craft protocol for Troop D’s Quality of Life Task Force — protocol that remains in place nearly 20 years later. He commanded the now-defunct casino unit. All told, he spent time in Troops D in Danielson, E in Montville and K in Colchester. He specialized in major crimes and narcotics along the way.

When he retired, Spellman held the rank of lieutenant. Records show he made a total of $209,153 in fiscal year 2011, the last year the state paid him.

But the 54-year-old would not be long for retirement. It took just a few consulting gigs for him to realize he “still had tread on the tire,” he said.

In other words, he longed to get back into law enforcement. To do so, Spellman — who will be doing double duty as a selectman in Stonington through November — stepped backward and entered the Groton City force as a patrol officer.

Spellman cited his “deep, deep respect” for former Chief Thomas Davoren and Deputy Chief Mike Guillot as a factor in that decision.

“There are very few, if any, other places I would have come to be a patrolman,” he said.

Spellman, who graduated in the 96th Class of the Connecticut Police Academy in 1987, estimates he has known Davoren for more than 20 years. Among other roles, Spellman served as a detective, a sergeant and a lieutenant while with the state police. In all of those cases, he was serving under Davoren, who was at least one step ahead of him.

Davoren, who led the city department for five years, retired on June 1.

Mayor Keith Hedrick said he believes Spellman will “follow a long line of police chiefs that have been good for the city.”

“I think he is a tremendous asset,” Hedrick said. “He is energetic. He is forward-thinking. And he has some new ideas for the position.”

Hedrick said he liked Spellman for the job in part because he and Spellman both believe police regularly should have positive interactions with the people they serve.

“A city is only as strong as its residents,” Hedrick said.

Spellman said he loved the time he spent on patrol in Groton. He believes an officer holding a given rank should understand the jobs of the people below him or her. And, as Hedrick said, Spellman believes strongly in the idea of on-the-ground community policing.

Notably, Spellman was part of the trio of officers who, in an effort that drew national attention, rescued an 85-year-old woman whose car plunged into the waters off Eastern Point Beach last year.

“Not once did I come into work not excited about coming in that day,” Spellman said.

During his first day on the job that will pay him $97,000 annually, the Stonington High School graduate hit the ground running. He hopped off the phone Tuesday morning and headed straight into a meeting, but not before listing some goals he has for the force.

Spellman said an immediate goal is to retain and groom talented personnel who have joined the department in the past few years.

The accredited 29-officer department is among the most diverse in southeastern Connecticut, Spellman and Hedrick said.

“Our police force mirrors the residents of our city, the people we serve,” Hedrick said. “That is a good thing. We’re going to maintain that diversity.”

Spellman also wants to expand the community policing that Groton City officers have been doing for years. He’s looking at implementing new ways of training police, too.

Spellman knows he has big shoes to fill.

“This agency has a long tradition of outstanding chiefs,” he said. “If my name was mentioned in the same breath as say, Larry Gerrish or Tom Davoren, I’d be deeply honored.”

Spellman is the second elected town official in the region to leave politics in one municipality to become head of a police department in another. Michael Finkelstein earlier this year stepped down as mayor of Ledyard to become the chief of East Lyme’s newly independent police department.

l.boyle@theday.com