Discussions Begin on Two Central Maine Police Departments Possibly Merging into One

When it comes to keeping our Maine communities safe, we owe much of it, if not all of it, to our local law enforcement officers. However, unliike many other states in the country, Maine is incredibly rural.

With more than 1.3 million people spread out over a massive land area, there are some towns in Maine where populations are measured in the hundreds, let alone the thousands or millions.

So what happens when you have two towns with fairly modest populations that border each other and each have their own police department? Well, according to some in the area, you merge the departments.

According to an article published by the Kennebec Journal, Paul Ferland, the 'shared Chief' of both Monmouth and Winthrop Police Departments, wrote a letter citing his reasons for finally merging the two departments together.

According to Ferland's letter, his greatest concern is that if something is not done soon, one of the departments may have to close completely due primarily to issues with recruiting and keeping officers on the staff.

Ferland stated in the letter that the combining of the two departments would better enable the combined department's leadership to improve officer supervision and optimize staff scheduling. This approach would help reduce overtime and ensure that at least two officers and a supervisor are always on duty.

Winthrop and Monmouth have established a committee to explore the merger, comprising each town’s manager, a representative from the Winthrop Town Council, a member of the Monmouth Select Board, a resident from each community, and leaders from the police departments. The committee held its first meeting in October and is scheduled to meet again on Dec. 10.

Ferland wrote in the letter in part,

“I am convinced a full consolidation of both agencies into a single police department would benefit both communities. All police demand in each community are looked at as a single function of the departments as a whole, and jurisdictional boundaries become invisible.”

"If we are to continue to have local police protection, we as a community must focus on the recruitment and retention of officers, on what will attract them to come work in our two towns and what will keep them here,”