March 28, 2024
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Limestone, Sheriff’s Department agree to terms Deal enables town to relinquish part-time law enforcement

LIMESTONE – Just a handful of signatures was needed to hand over law enforcement for the town to the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department.

Limestone selectmen voted unanimously during a special town meeting Wednesday to sign a six-month contract with the Sheriff’s Department, which will provide the town with full-time protection at a cost of $119,000. The contract is expected to be extended each year, with the overall annual cost projected at $257,000.

Residents voted 534-484 on Nov. 2 in favor of terminating the services of the Limestone Police Department and allowing the Sheriff’s Department to take the reins. The referendum came after Limestone had problems retaining officers.

The Limestone Police Department is staffed by part-time reserve personnel and a part-time chief. The part-time chief, Sgt. Michael Gahagan, also works full time for the Caribou Police Department.

Although selectmen have been working on the project for nearly a year, not everyone at the meeting seemed willing to embrace the change.

Residents peppered selectmen and Sheriff Jim Madore with questions about the deal, with some expressing frustration that the move was not projected to save the town money. The annual cost could be $30,000 to $50,000 more than the town now budgets for police protection.

Selectmen reiterated that the goal of the move was not necessarily to save money.

“I don’t think that there will be a cost savings,” Selectman Paul Durepo said. “I don’t think we’ve led anyone to believe that it will be cheaper for us. It won’t. But when we send a sheriff’s officer to the police academy, we will be able to retain them longer because they are a larger department and the officers are able to be promoted from within.”

Durepo went on to say that Limestone had sent “30 or 40” police officers to the academy in the past and “it didn’t work.”

“This is not driven to save money,” he said. “This is to get trained officers to stay in Limestone.”

Selectman Paul Poitras pointed out that the police budget would increase anyway if the town had to hire full-time officers and a full-time chief.

One resident said he believes that students at the Loring Job Corps Center, some of whom are from other towns and states, had influenced the vote. Madore rejected that idea Wednesday evening.

“I don’t buy the fact that Job Corps made the difference here,” he said. “We have been working on this for a year. I am looking for a long-term commitment here.”

Since the contract will be renewed each year, residents will have opportunities to decide whether the town wants to revert to its own department. The Sheriff’s Department will retain all of Limestone’s police equipment, and deputies in Limestone will not be answering calls elsewhere while on duty in the town.

“We’re ready to take this over,” Madore told selectmen after the contract was signed. “There may be a few bumps in the road getting the transition done, but we’re excited to be working with the town of Limestone.”


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