Shortage of qualified officers tops law enforcement task force findings

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Piscataquis County needs more law enforcement officers.

That’s one of the findings of a countywide task force — comprised of town managers, police personnel and citizens — that began meeting earlier this year to address law enforcement needs and processes, such as patrol, staff recruitment, coverage, mutual aid,communication, use of vehicles and contracts with towns. A final summary report and recommendations from the task force on how to strengthen police protection offered in the most efficient and affordable manner was presented to the Piscataquis County Commissioners during an April 4 meeting.

“We had three months of the county law enforcement task force in January, February and March, after six hours we have at least a framework of the issue,” County Manager Tom Lizotte said about the work of the 13-member group. “The expectation today is you will just look at the findings and not take any action.”

“I think we are in close agreement the No. 1 issue in Piscataquis County and rural areas across the country is a shortage of qualified officers,” Lizotte said. Various reasons listed in the report include stagnant pay, poor work/life balance, high job risk, the changing nature of police work and negative public perceptions about police use of force.
Lizotte said between the sheriff’s office and Dover-Foxcroft, Greenville and Milo police departments — the Brownville Police Department was defunded after March via an annual town meeting vote — there are 13.5 full-time officers for a county population of just under 17,000. He said this puts the region below the generally accepted ratio of one officer per 1,000 citizens.

“What can we do, the first thing is let the public know,” the county manager said. The report states elected officials need to develop a coordinated response to the emerging crisis.

Aspects of the response may include increasing pay and benefits to attract qualified officers, a stronger support system (including employment assistance programs) to help retain officers, more family-friendly work schedules and a law enforcement recruiting strategy promoting the area’s small-town quality of life and sense of community. Recruitment should start with a “grow your own” initiative by reaching out to high school students to promote law enforcement as a rewarding future career.

Lizotte said the commissioners can play a convening role in this process by beginning discussions with the local selectboards on a response to the staffing issue.

“Another problem that comes up is the manpower shortage is being papered over by reserve officers,” the county manager said. He said reserve officers, many of whom cover shifts with multiple agencies, are restricted to 1,040 hours of police work annually.

The report says the reserve pool is shrinking, and there is a clear trend of increasing required training for officers. Many rural chiefs worry that the Maine Criminal Justice Academy may phase out the use of part-time officers entirely which could turn the existing manpower shortage into a full-blown crisis. The task force members felt that a part-time officer who is available to provide routine patrol coverage is an improvement over the fully trained, full-time officer who exists only in theory.

“The third problem is the state police used to have a more high-profile role in providing rural coverage than they do now,” Lizotte said. He said the task force wondered if there has been a communications breakdown between the Maine State Police and the county departments, and how can the various agencies work together effectively to serve residents.

“The other issue that came out is mutual aid agreements,” Lizotte said. He said state statute encourages such arrangements but these usually are not formal, written contracts. The report said mutual aid is still provided between departments in emergency situations but is not as consistent as it should be.
The document states the sheriff’s department has county-wide dispatch which could potentially coordinate mutual aid police calls. For mutual aid to be fully effective, the commissioners and selectmen need to get beyond the provincial concerns over local control and financing and put their full support behind the concept.

A good starting point may be a meeting between county and town officials from communities that have local police to develop mutual aid protocols all parties can support.

Lizotte said the loss of Brownville’s police department can serve as a test case “about how this transition and changes in police coverage could work in this area.” He said the town is now being served by the sheriff’s office.

“It is an opportunity for the sheriff’s department to demonstrate capacity for patrols in a greater area,” Lizotte said, saying the agency began covering Brownville on its own several days prior.

“Sleep on this and give it some thought,” Lizotte told the commissioners, as they will discuss the report findings at a future meeting.

In other business, the commissioners approved the recommendation of District Attorney Chris Almy for Scott Arno to be hired as a full-time domestic violence investigator for the office.

“Scott did apply and we are happy he did,” said Corina Tibbetts of the district attorney’s office. She said Arno has served as a domestic violence investigator on a part-time basis for a number of years

The district attorney’s office had been awarded a federal grant to make the position full-time in 2017. The county is funding $31,264 to go along with the $63,475 grant, and about $25,000 was earmarked in the budget for the investigator position with the district attorney’s office coming up with the remaining monies.

“We know he will do a great job for us,” Tibbetts said about Arno. “He has worked for us for the last 11 years and we hope that will continue.” She said Arno will be restricted to domestic violence cases in 2017 but in future years he may be able to investigate other incidents, depending on grant and funding stipulations.

“I look forward to continuing my work full-time and continuing what I have done part-time and helping with cases for the district attorney to prosecute,” Arno said.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
OFFICER SHORTAGE — Law enforcement agencies in Piscataquis County, as well as many departments across rural parts of the country, are coping with a shortage of qualified officers. This is one of the findings of a county-wide task force — comprised of town managers, police personnel and citizens — that began meeting earlier this year to address law enforcement needs and processes, such as patrol, staff recruitment, coverage, mutual aid, communication, use of vehicles and contracts with towns. The task force came up with potential ways the region’s police department officer shortage can be addressed. The Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office in Dover-Foxcroft currently has two officers attending the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Vassalboro and the pair are scheduled to be patrolling the Moosehead Lake and Milo/Brownville areas respectively by the start of summer.