Select Board Meeting & Law Enforcement Informational Session (Live from DCS)

2024-09-10 · Select Board · 2:14:41 · watch on YouTube →

The Select Board held a short regular session on September 10, 2024, then recessed and reconvened at 6:00 for an informational session on law enforcement coverage in Durham. The regular session covered the town manager's report on a text notification system for residents, board member reports, the consent agenda and upcoming meetings. After the recess the board voted to open the meeting to public comment and heard from the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office, which described two contract options: two deputies covering 12 hours a day for about $288,000 a year, or four deputies for 24-hour coverage at about $556,000. Residents asked about response times, hiring and staffing, vehicles and capital costs, speeding on Route 136, and the cost per household. No decision was taken on law enforcement; board members said the session was informational, that a survey and a straw poll at the November election would be used to gauge interest, and that no timeline had been set for bringing anything to town meeting.

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. 3:12
   Agenda, public comment and town manager report

   No amendments to the agenda, no public comment and no new business. The town manager, Jerry, said residents would receive a text on Thursday inviting them to opt in to push notifications, with a reply of "stop" to opt out, and that the quarterly newsletter was late because the office is short-staffed. A board member asked for a written policy on who may send messages and under what circumstances; Jerry agreed to prepare one. He also reported that a business magazine wants to feature Durham as one of the best managed towns in Maine under 10,000 and would interview town staff, board members and possibly the fire chief.

2. 8:29
   Board member reports, consent agenda and upcoming meetings

   Joe (?) thanked those who contributed to the written position for the law enforcement session and asked that unfinished items, including the fee schedule, be put on agendas rather than carried forward. The Solid Waste Committee meets September 16 and a board member volunteered as liaison. The visioning project steering committee, led by GPCOG, first met August 12 with a further meeting October 7; it was not recorded, and the board asked that future meetings be recorded for residents. The consent agenda was the August minutes; upcoming meetings listed were Solid Waste on 9/16 at 6:30 at the fire station, the next select board meeting on 9/24, the planning board on October 2 at 6:30, and an RSU 5 board of directors meeting on September 11 at the high school.

3. 13:34
   List of open items and format of the informational session

   A board member offered to work with Jerry on a list of unfinished items to circulate by email in advance, with no discussion outside the meeting, for review at a later agenda. A Maine DOT meeting was said to have been pushed to November. The board discussed whether the law enforcement item needed to be a workshop and agreed to announce a vote to allow public comment during that part of the meeting, then moved to recess until 6:00.

4. 34:48
   Informational session opened; background to the request

   The board voted to open this part of the meeting to public comment and welcomed the sheriff and chief deputy. Chief Tripp (?) and Lisbon Chief Ryan McGee were expected but did not attend, McGee because of an incident in Lisbon that night. Josh (?) explained that the question came from Chief McGee earlier in the year, citing Durham's growth and an increase in driving offenses, property crime, crimes against persons and drug crimes, and that the fire chief had raised the wait for law enforcement backup before entering some calls; he also disclosed that he works for the Attorney General's office as drug prosecutor for Androscoggin County and will move to deputy district attorney. A board member said the session was informational only and not an indication of where the board stands.

5. 40:21
   Sheriff's office overview of rural patrol and contracting

   Three deputies are scheduled on rural patrol covering seven towns and roughly 400 square miles. Contracting would give the town dedicated deputies and a substation while keeping county resources such as CID, records management and dispatch, and vacancies from resignations, sickness or vacation would be filled from the patrol pool. Contracted deputies stay in the contracted town except for court, paperwork, hospital trips or mass casualty events; that night an incident in Lisbon had all three patrol deputies tied up and the night shift called in.

6. 46:22
   Cost of the two contract options

   Two deputies covering 12 hours a day, seven days a week was quoted at about $288,000 a year, and four deputies giving 24-hour coverage at about $556,000. The figures were described as worst-case and cover salary, benefits and capital, including vehicles, radios, computers and body cameras, with maintenance and replacement handled by the sheriff's office. The town would be responsible for an office and items such as a copier and printer; evidence storage and photo downloads stay at the sheriff's office.

7. 51:35
   Public questions on response time, substation and the COPS grant

   Brad Owen of 12 Ada Drive (?) asked about the current 56-minute average response time; the sheriff said a deputy stationed in town would likely respond in under 10 minutes, and that the average is pulled up by non-emergency calls such as reported thefts. A substation would be requested, as in Poland, and finding space, possibly at the town office or a trailer at the fire station, was described as a next step for the board. Owen also raised the COPS grant Chief McGee had mentioned; the sheriff said it is a four-year grant applied for jointly with the town, with the federal share declining and the town paying 100 percent in the final year.

8. 56:56
   Capital cost clarified; plan for a November straw poll

   In response to a question from a resident on Stackpole Road, the sheriff confirmed the $288,000 is the total yearly contract cost including capital, not an amount added to an initial capital expense. Josh (?) said a survey would follow the meeting, there would be three select board meetings before the election for further comment, and the intent was to gauge whether the town wants the board to pursue it. One resident said he had only received the material the night before, that the process felt rushed, and that half the calls listed did not look like emergencies and more policing would not stop crime.

9. 1:02:03
   Straw poll precedent and a question about county-level staffing

   Heather (?) compared the plan to the straw poll used before the marijuana ordinances, said the November presidential election would draw the largest turnout, and noted the board looked at this in 2018 and did not pursue it. A resident from Swamp Road (?) asked whether the county could simply put six deputies on rural patrol instead of three, spreading the cost across towns. The sheriff said sharing a deputy with another town does not guarantee availability in Durham, and that a contract guarantees a deputy in town.

10. 1:07:10
    Difference between two and four deputies; how positions would be filled

    Milt Simon (?) of Stackpole Road (?) asked why two deputies gives 12 hours a day and four gives 24. Deputies are paid for 44-hour weeks on 14-day cycles working 12-hour shifts, so two deputies cover one 12-hour shift every day of the week. Positions would first be offered to existing deputies and then advertised publicly.

11. 1:12:40
    Vehicles, capital and what happens if the town ends the contract

    A resident questioned paying for a vehicle when a deputy transferring from the county brings one, and asked what the town would be left with if it opted out. The sheriff's office would own the cars and equipment, insure and maintain them, and finance replacements on a rotation; the town pays for capital through the contract but would not own the cruisers. Poland previously bought its own cars and moved away from that arrangement.

12. 1:17:57
    Credit against county tax; sheriff's office roster

    Asked whether the town would get a credit for what it already pays the county, the sheriff said there would be no reduction, as rural patrol, CID and back office services continue and county government must provide them. Nate Leder (?) of Bryant Drive (?) asked for staffing numbers: 16 full-time deputies, four contract deputies, two contracted school resource officers and four detectives, with patrol currently down two, one deputy at the academy and one out after a gunshot injury.

13. 1:23:12
    Academy costs and overlap with the Freeport school resource officer

    The sheriff said academy costs are carried in the county training budget rather than the contract, and that shifts are currently staffed through overtime. Leder (?) said the RSU 5 budget pays part of a Freeport school resource officer who rarely comes to Durham because he is not deputized in Androscoggin County, and asked whether a contracted deputy could do that work. The sheriff said the office has offered to deputize the individual and that the arrangement is a school administration matter; board members said they would take it up with the school.

14. 1:28:39
    Speeding on Route 136 and traffic enforcement expectations

    Derek Lovich (?) of Snow Road (?) said his wife was nearly killed in an accident last year and asked whether the 12-hour coverage would be at consistent hours and how much of a deputy's time would go to traffic enforcement. The sheriff said shift times would be set with the town and adjusted, that deputies are monitored through the records management system for community contacts and visibility rather than ticket counts, and that the office has run 20 proactive details this year with Route 136 a primary target area.

15. 1:33:54
    Call data, hiring delays and the budget process

    A resident noted attachment B showed 88 motor vehicle stops in Durham in 2024 and said Route 136 has been called the Durham Raceway since she moved here in 2009. Asked whether the town would pay before positions were filled, the sheriff said existing staff could fill in and cited an SRO contract where three unfilled weeks were not charged. Heather (?) said that any contract would have to be approved by the town and then pass the budget process at the April town meeting like everything else.

16. 1:40:03
    Poland response times, alarm calls and where fine money goes

    The sheriff could not give an average response time for Poland but described a recent call answered in about a minute and a half; the board asked whether that figure could be obtained. A resident who owns a business in Mechanic Falls (?) said officers still wait for a second officer on alarm calls, and the sheriff described which calls require two officers. Fine money goes to the state and is divided by formula; there are no quotas and neither the town nor the agency receives a share.

17. 1:45:58
    Paid traffic details as a lower-cost alternative; contract term

    Asked whether targeted traffic enforcement could be bought instead of full-time deputies, the sheriff said details cost $100 an hour with a four-hour minimum, and that a budget of about $30,000 a year for details was discussed with the board in 2018. Details are voluntary and cannot be ordered, unlike contract shifts. Contracts are year to year, though taking the COPS grant would commit the town for four years.

18. 1:51:02
    Cost per household

    A resident divided $288,000 by 1,800 taxpaying houses and put the two-deputy option at about $160 per household a year, or $13 a month, and gave a higher figure for four deputies. Another resident later said the flat per-household figure ignores differences in property value and asked for cost by home valuation. The sheriff said the office was not making a sales pitch and had come because it was asked to.

19. 1:56:10
    Whether other options or a committee have been considered

    A resident asked whether a committee had looked at alternatives, noting his tax bill had already gone up. Josh (?) said the board has looked only at the two sheriff's office proposals, that creating a town police department was not considered realistic on cost, and that reaching out to Lisbon or other neighboring departments would be a next step. He said no timeline has been set: it could go to town meeting in 2025, 2026 or later.

20. 2:01:50
    County resources compared with starting a town department

    The sheriff listed administration, HR, payroll, records management, dispatch, CID, evidence lockers, four detectives with specialties in electronics, accident reconstruction, drone operation and domestic violence, a K-9 officer and federal task force involvement, and said contracting avoids the cost of building those functions. He said small departments face rising requirements for bail and domestic violence follow-up and that some have closed. Heather (?) added that the town is outgrowing its existing buildings and would not need to house a whole department under a contract.

21. 2:07:29
    Two-responder calls, shift setting and recruitment

    A board member described first responders arriving at calls they are not supposed to enter without law enforcement and sometimes going in anyway; the sheriff said a contracted deputy could serve as the second responder, though protocols differ between agencies. Shift hours would start at a target time set with the town and be evaluated, with a night differential limiting how they can be rotated. The office had two resignations last week, posts positions internally for seven days before advertising publicly, and had five applicants on its last posting, three already academy certified.

22. 2:12:31
    Closing and adjournment

    Residents were told they can email the select board or Jerry with questions, that questions can remain anonymous, and that answers may be given by return email or taken up at a future meeting. A motion to adjourn followed.

What was decided

• 8:29
  Consent agenda, approving the August minutes. The transcript records a motion, a second and a call for those in favor, but no statement of the result.outcome unclear
• 13:34
  Motion to recess until 6:00 for the law enforcement informational session. The transcript records a motion, seconds and a call for those in favor but no statement of the result; the meeting did recess and reconvened at 6:00.outcome unclear
• 34:48
  Motion to open the informational session portion of the meeting to public comment. The transcript records a motion, a second and a call for those in favor but no statement of the result; public comment then took place.outcome unclear
• 2:12:31
  Motion to adjourn. The transcript records a motion, a second and a call for those in favor but no statement of the result.outcome unclear

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

• 46:22
  The sheriff's office quoted about $288,000 a year for two deputies covering 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and about $556,000 for four deputies giving 24-hour coverage. Both figures were presented as worst case and include salary, benefits, vehicles and equipment.
• 51:35
  The current average response time to Durham calls was given as 56 minutes. The sheriff estimated a deputy stationed in town would usually respond in under 10 minutes, and said the average is raised by non-emergency calls.
• 1:51:02
  A resident calculated the two-deputy contract at about $160 per household a year, or $13 a month, dividing $288,000 by 1,800 taxpaying houses. Another resident noted that a flat per-household figure does not reflect differences in property valuation.
• 1:56:10
  No timeline has been set. The board plans a survey and a straw poll at the November election, and any contract would still have to be approved by the town and pass the budget process at an April town meeting; board members said it could go forward in 2025, 2026 or later, or not at all.

Motion language found in the transcript

Located by pattern matching, with no model involved: "I move that", "I'll second", "all those in favour". This is an independent check on the summary above: 1 passage of motion language, against 4 decisions summarised.

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