Select Board Workshop ~ June 18, 2024

2024-06-18 · Select Board · 1:51:50 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board held a workshop on June 18, 2024 with the Androscoggin County Sheriff, Eric Samson, and his chief deputy, who gave his name as William Gagne (?), to look at what dedicated law enforcement coverage would mean for Durham. The board's stated reason was that the town has no law enforcement of its own and has had steady feedback about speeding, accident hotspots and the volume of calls needing a police response. The Sheriff's Office set out how rural patrol works now, what a contract with the county would cover, what it would cost, and how contracting differs from forming a town department. The fire chief described calls where his crews wait for or go without police backup. This was a workshop and no votes were taken; members described the intended route as a non-binding question to voters at the November election followed by a budget item at April town meeting, and asked the Sheriff's Office for average response times and help with public education.

No written minutes could be matched to this meeting. The transcript records that the speaker changed but never who was speaking, so any name attached to a statement below is inferred from context and is marked (?).

What was discussed

1. 8:46
   Purpose of the workshop and introductions

   The chair said the only purpose of the meeting was to discuss law enforcement, that the town has no dedicated law enforcement at town level, and that the board had heard from residents about the volume of calls needing a police response, about speeding on the state roads that run through town, and about hotspots where accidents happen. Sheriff Eric Samson and his chief deputy, William Gagne (?), introduced themselves. There were technical difficulties with the sound at the start.

2. 8:46
   How rural patrol is staffed and what a contract covers

   The sheriff said rural patrol runs four shifts with a minimum of three deputies for the whole county, and that Poland is the only contract town, with deputies who stay in Poland and also enforce town ordinances. He had given the board Durham call volumes and a sample contract based on Poland's, priced using one deputy at the top of the pay scale and one in the middle so the figure is a worst case. Capital is not in that figure: cruisers, mobile terminals, radios, radars, rifles, shotguns and cell phones are handled under a separate flat fee, and fuel arrangements vary, with Poland's deputies filling up at that town's public works at no charge.

3. 13:52
   Why contracting rather than forming a department

   The sheriff said the county already carries the administrative cost: human resources, payroll, a rank structure, and a records clerk for the growing volume of records and Freedom of Access requests. If a Durham position were vacant the county would fill the shift on overtime and honour the contract. Liability, wage negotiation, training and workers' compensation would sit with the county, which is self-insured. He advised against going full tilt at the start, suggesting two deputies covering 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and building from there, and noted that Poland (?) moved from 16-hour to 24-hour coverage because the 16-hour shifts were unattractive and produced a revolving door.

4. 13:52
   Durham call volumes

   The board worked through the call lists supplied for 2022, 2023 and the first half of 2024. For 2022 the figures included seven abandoned motor vehicles, 93 abandoned 911 calls, 89 accidents, 94 traffic stops and one threatening; the sheriff noted five sex offences that year, usually referrals alleging abuse, which are not publicised. A member added the 2023 calls for service to 1,073, and the accident figure for 2023 was given as 105.

5. 18:53
   County resources available under a contract

   The sheriff said the office has four detectives for criminal investigation, an accident reconstructionist, a deputy sworn through the Attorney General's office for domestic violence, K9 units, and a detective who works one day a week with the FBI on a federal task force. He said a town starting its own department would be years away from having any of that, whereas a contract town has access to it from the start.

6. 24:24
   What Durham gets from rural patrol now

   Asked to quantify what county taxes already buy, the sheriff said a minimum of three deputies are on duty covering 14 towns, six of which have their own police departments, plus a fourth dedicated to Poland and school resource officers in the contracted districts. Deputies are asked to have a presence in every town, but a deputy planning to pass through Durham may be tied up on a call in Livermore or Leeds. Towns with their own departments are not the county's focus; the towns without them are.

7. 29:36
   Cost of the two-deputy proposal

   The estimated cost for the two-deputy proposal was given as $288,000 a year, later stated as $288,807, covering wages, medical insurance, state retirement, Social Security and uniform allowance, using family medical coverage throughout for budget predictability. Vehicles are not in that figure: a new cruiser outfitted with radio and camera equipment costs about $75,000 and is financed over three years, and Poland's capital line is about $40,000 a year for four vehicles. Members put the all-in range at roughly $288,000 to $335,000 a year.

8. 29:36
   The COPS grant

   A member asked whether the federal COPS grant, whose deadline the town had missed in May, would still apply to contracted coverage rather than a town department; the sheriff thought it would. He said the county's last COPS grant was in 2020, when the State Police withdrew from call sharing, and funded two deputies. The grant pays a declining share over three years with the recipient at 100% in the fourth, and the county stepped its own share up gradually so the final year was not a single large increase.

9. 34:41
   Capital and equipment

   Asked for a point of reference on capital, the sheriff said Poland budgets about $40,000 a year now that its vehicles are in place, which covers maintenance rather than acquisition. The county finances new vehicles over three years and would keep the equipment if a contract ended, rolling the cars into the county fleet. He also noted the camera and body-worn recording system takes eight or nine months to obtain, and that the office is pursuing federal grants through Congressman Golden's office for mobile terminals and a camera system upgrade.

10. 39:58
    The sheriff's view of Durham's need

    Asked directly whether Durham is overdue for its own coverage, the sheriff said no, though he said another community in the county is, and that he sees a growing town that would benefit from having the resource. He said Route 136 is treated as a raceway, which contributes to OUIs and to the crash numbers, and that the constraint on his deputies is not the number of calls so much as the distance between them. He said he does not solicit contracts but is willing to provide the service if the town wants it.

11. 45:23
    The fire chief on calls needing police

    The fire chief said his department now runs 24-hour staffing and that medical and mental health related calls are doubling year over year. Crews are not supposed to enter a scene until a deputy has made it safe, but with deputies often on the other side of the county he cannot in good conscience wait outside while someone may be dying, so they go into harm's way; he cited a recent possible suicide call. He said police were not available for a recent OUI and the department relied on a game warden and two Lisbon officers, and that he had moved drug activity away from Runaround Pond himself.

12. 51:10
    Transports, arson and mental health call trends

    The fire chief said deputies frequently transport people in mental health crisis by car, which spares them an ambulance bill, and pointed to two or three recent arson cases and to sexual assault cases where a consistent point of contact helps. The sheriff said the office reports mental health related calls to NAMI each month and that the count has grown from the teens to close to 30 a month across the eight communities it serves. He noted the reporting only captures calls where mental health is the primary reason, so the real number is higher.

13. 56:24
    Contract length, vehicles and predictability

    Asked whether contracts run one, three or five years, the sheriff said one year, because staffing changes make a three-year price unpredictable, and that if a town ended the contract the county would absorb the vehicles into its own rotation rather than leave the town holding them. He said the office prices at real cost rather than to make money. He also explained that the pricing assumes family medical coverage for every position because a single subscriber marrying mid-contract would otherwise break the budget.

14. 1:01:53
    Hiring and the town's role

    Deputies already employed by the county get first refusal on a contract town position if sufficiently qualified, and the vacancy is then posted. Academy training for a new hire comes out of the county's training budget at no extra charge to the town. Asked whether the board or town manager could take part in hiring, the sheriff said the county would welcome it, that it has run oral boards with town managers and school administrators, and that both approaches have been used.

15. 1:07:36
    Response times

    The board asked for average response times as something residents could understand. The sheriff said his office records the information but does not compile it, so producing an average would mean going through calls individually, and he offered to ask his director of communications. He gave the current day as an example, with deputies coming from Wales, Turner and an accident in the north of the county. A member described waiting about 45 minutes for a Freeport officer and an hour and 40 minutes for a state trooper from Westbrook at a crash, and a two-hour response to an accidental 911 call.

16. 1:12:57
    Ticket revenue and ordinance enforcement

    Asked where ticket money goes, the sheriff said none of it comes back to the county or the town; fines go to the state, part supports the academy and part goes to the courts, and attempts by towns to capture it through ordinances have not survived. He said the office does receive traffic enforcement grants based on state crash data and has been doing enforcement in Durham early in the morning and late in the afternoon. A contract deputy could take on town ordinance work, though prosecution of ordinance cases is awkward and would need the town's attorney.

17. 1:18:20
    County taxes and speed signs

    The board asked whether county taxes would fall if the town contracted; the sheriff said no, rural patrol continues alongside a contract and county tax pays for that and for the jail. On radar speed signs, the town has two; in Poland deputies move the sign to wherever complaints are coming from, some units collect data, and the sheriff invited public works to email him about where speeding complaints originate so the sign can be placed and data gathered.

18. 1:23:31
    Working with town government

    The sheriff said the relationship would be set out in the contract rather than a separate policy. The chief deputy attends Poland's department head meetings monthly and the Poland town manager calls him directly about resident complaints. The office would expect requests to come through it for accountability rather than being arranged informally with individual deputies. A contract deputy would also work with code enforcement where those disputes get heated.

19. 1:28:45
    Process and timing

    The chair described the board's intended route: put a question to voters at the November election to gauge whether the town wants to pursue coverage, then bring the budget item to town meeting in April, so nothing is binding until April. Members said turnout in November would be far higher than town meeting, where recent attendance has been around 125 to 175. The sheriff asked for about six months' notice so he can plan hiring and vehicles, and said a contract would most likely run July 1 to June 30.

20. 1:34:16
    The range of options

    A member set out the options as doing nothing and staying with rural patrol, contracting for 12 hours a day, contracting for 24 hours, or forming a town department, which members said is off the table because the town has no internal infrastructure for it. Asked whether anything exists between nothing and 12 hours a day, the sheriff said not really: he can direct a deputy to a specific road at a specific time when residents narrow down when the problem occurs, but the deputy will leave as soon as a call comes in.

21. 1:39:25
    Lost crash data and the Route 136 intersection

    Jerry (?) said the town has been working with Calvin and MaineDOT to get a guardrail on Newbrook Road after several accidents, but that when deputies are stretched in storms not every crash gets a report, so the town loses accident data and with it the evidence for infrastructure grants. The sheriff said he has driven to Durham himself during snowstorms. A member said MaineDOT had been in town about the Route 136 intersection, described as the 11th most dangerous intersection in the state, and named Rabbit Road and Dead Man's Curve as the other hotspots.

22. 1:44:38
    Public education before a vote

    The board asked how far the Sheriff's Office would help explain the proposal to residents before a vote. The sheriff said he was confident staff would take part in a public hearing and could provide material, and that answering the board's questions publicly helps because other residents will have the same ones. Members said a hearing at the Eureka Center might draw around 40 people against about 175 at town meeting, and asked for material such as before-and-after response times from Poland that could go on the website and in the newsletter.

23. 1:49:41
    Closing

    Josh (?) said he had come into the meeting almost completely against the idea and had moved most of the way to the other side, and thanked the sheriff and chief deputy for their time. The chair thanked them and said the board would email further questions. The workshop adjourned at about 7:47 p.m.; no motion was needed because it was a workshop rather than a special meeting.

What was decided

• 1:07:36
  Agreed, without a vote, that the Sheriff's Office would try to produce an average response time for Durham calls that could be communicated to residentspassed
• 1:18:20
  Agreed, without a vote, that public works would email the sheriff about where speeding complaints come from so a radar speed sign can be placed there and data collectedpassed
• 1:44:38
  Agreed, without a vote, that the Sheriff's Office would take part in public education, including a public hearing and material the town could publish, ahead of any votepassed

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Worth knowing

• 29:36
  Two deputies covering 12 hours a day, seven days a week, was estimated at $288,000 a year, later given as $288,807, covering wages and benefits but not vehicles. A fully equipped cruiser costs about $75,000 and is financed over three years, putting the all-in figure at roughly $288,000 to $335,000 a year.
• 24:24
  Durham's current coverage is a minimum of three deputies on duty for the whole county, covering 14 towns, six of which have their own police departments, plus one deputy contracted to Poland. County taxes would not fall if Durham contracted; rural patrol continues alongside it.
• 45:23
  The fire chief said crews are not supposed to enter a scene until a deputy has made it safe, but with deputies often on the other side of the county they go in anyway, and that medical and mental health calls are doubling year over year. On a recent possible suicide call they were told to wait outside.
• 1:39:25
  When deputies are stretched, not every crash gets a report written, so the town loses accident data and with it the evidence needed for MaineDOT infrastructure grants, such as a guardrail sought for Newbrook Road. A member said the Route 136 intersection is the 11th most dangerous in the state.

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