FARMINGTON — Selectmen Tuesday night, June 14, were given the 2021 year-end review for the Police Department.
“Jesse Clement cracked the (catalytic converter) case this morning,” Police Chief Kenneth Charles said. Charles spoke of a woman leaving her 2004 vehicle parked near the movie theater for two days and discovering the catalytic converters had been sawn off. Two converters for that model cost $800, he noted.
“Stealing catalytic converters is not to put diapers on a baby, it is sad to see,” Charles said. Rather it probably has to do with the drug problem that has changed over the last 20 years, is growing exponentially fast today, he noted. “Everything seems to have fentanyl in it,” he added.
In 2021 five officers departed with only one lost to retirement, Charles said.
In June of 2021, Charles told the board he had five openings to fill. At that meeting, Charles said his department’s pay scale was off a few dollars compared to larger cities and several dollars off compared to state jobs. There is no overtime with state jobs, he noted then.
In May voters approved a $7.6 million budget that included $1.7 million for the Police Department. It included an increase of about $100,000 for salaries, wages and part time — one part of an attempt to limit the number of officers leaving the department.
“We needed to stop the hemorrhaging,” Charles said Tuesday. “I think we have done that. Now we need an infusion to get new people.”
In the last year two officers were hired, he said. The department hosted Phase II, the in-person law enforcement pre-service academy that follows an online phase for them and another for two other potential hires, Charles noted.
“We offered one of the better classes in the state,” he said. “We have shown the [Maine Criminal] Academy we have the resources, the facility. We have a lot to offer not just locally but statewide. We represented ourselves very well.”
It was determined those potential candidates were not a good match for his department, Charles stated.
Promotions were awarded to Clement and Ethan Boyd while Shane Cote was recognized for 25 years and Ryan Rosie for 10 years with the department, Charles noted. “You want longevity,” he said. “You don’t figure out how to do police work in the first year.”
Two recently hired officers are taking the Phase II training at Southern Maine Community College and will be introduced to the board at a later meeting, Charles said. It was learned today a certified law enforcement officer decided to go elsewhere and a conditional offer has been made to a candidate, pending completion of the background checks, he added.
It will be a challenge to get the three new officers field trained once they complete time at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, Charles noted.
Another incentive enacted to keep officers was a move to provide one vehicle for each officer. Once the new officers have completed the Academy and been trained, Charles said including him there will be 13 officers and 11 vehicles. “We are getting to the point where we will be needing some vehicles,” he noted.
Some vehicles in the department were retired state police vehicles for which updated components have been acquired at little to no cost, Charles said. The challenge is how to affordably outfit cruisers for each officer, as outfitting is about a third of the cost of a new vehicle, he added.
Radar in some vehicles is up to 18 years old. Charles said he would probably be coming before the board to replace some of the older equipment and maybe to replace older computers for vehicles as well.
“We are trying to recycle everything we can,” he added.
Selectman Joshua Bell asked if there was any progress on the broken windows case.
Charles said the department had a video and vague description of the vehicle, thinks probably little white marbles were used. The cameras available are useless at night, options could and should be talked about but will entail costs, he noted.
In other business Selectmen approved an expenditure of $12,757.22 to purchase a 2022 John Deere Model 960M 60″ deck zero-turn mower with Tweel tires for the Parks and Recreation Department. Funds from the department’s Vehicles and Equipment Reserve Account will be used for the purchase from United AG Turf in Fairfield. Current balance in the reserve account is $19,082.08.
Expected delivery date for the mower is late July or early August, Director Matthew Foster said. “It is the only one being built for New England this year, the price really is very good,” he noted.
Foster said Sourcewell, a cooperative purchasing program would be used. It is a national bidding process which saves time and money since requests for proposals aren’t needed, he noted. It is used by Regional School Unit 9, the hospital and state government, he added.
The new mower will replace a 2013 Kubota that is getting worse, has maintenance issues, Foster said.
Bell asked if that mower would be traded in. Usually not much is gotten in trade in for mowers, recently prices obtained through auctions have been way more, Foster said.
“We are used to using 20 year old mowers that are breaking down all the time,” he said. If a homeowner doesn’t mow his lawn it’s not a big deal, but it is different if there is a ball game to be played and the field isn’t prepared, Foster noted.
“We are trying to be the professional standard people expect of us,” he added.
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