LIVERMORE FALLS – Police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. is faced with a staffing shortage, he told selectmen Monday night.

He said Lt. Tom Gould is now back on patrol, so there is no night supervisor. Steward also said he had learned that afternoon that Officer Rod Small had submitted his resignation to take a job in Jay.

In an effort to keep expenses down, the board had previously agreed not to fill the vacant sergeant’s position, then cut another officer.

“I didn’t complain when you took away the sergeant, but when you took away an officer, it means we really can’t function,” said the chief. “Losing that man really hurt us.”

“The guys are getting frustrated, they can’t get anything done, there’s no flexibility left,” he said. “We’ve had several rapes and gross sexual assaults. I had a man working 24 hours on a case last week, and I’m relying on (Sheriff’s Deputy) Heidi Gould on assault cases.”

Steward said an officer was assaulted at 5:30 a.m. Saturday and could not get additional help. The state police were in Gray, and units of the Jay police were in North Jay, so Gould had to be called in. “We just don’t have the manpower.”

In addition to that type of emergency, the chief explained that the work police do on the road is minor – the real work is actually done at the station when they complete the paperwork.

“We have to do thorough interviews or we don’t get the job done in court,” he said.

Taking cases to court in Lewiston is time-consuming, too, Steward explained. Officers have to go there to sign papers. Arraignments are held one day and criminal cases another and juvenile matters are held a different day, so officers spend four or five days a month in Lewiston, rather than just two days a month in court before the Livermore Falls District Court closed June 30.

He is now paying overtime for court, and it’s eating up the budget, Steward said. “It takes a lot more time in Lewiston, it’s hard for a man to spend eight hours there and come back to work a shift.”

Steward was also concerned about the Thursday night overlap position, which had been approved only if Steward could fund it without overtime.

“I hate to pay overtime when we have Jay, the Sheriff’s Department and state police,” said Selectman Russell Flagg, who suggested filling the position with reserves another month. “You’re saying it won’t work, and we’ve only had a month with it,” added Selectman Bernal Lake.

“We’re not trying to pick on the Police Department,” Flagg told the chief. “We’re trying to cut taxes where we can; we get complaints.”

“I get complaints, too,” Steward responded. “I start an investigation and have to leave for a call. You have to do interviews without interruptions.”

The board continued its directive to fill the overlap only on straight time, but did give the chief permission to seek a full-time employee to fill Small’s position.

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