PARIS – Two area residents concerned over a shortage of patrol officers in Oxford County have taken it upon themselves to create solutions.

Appearing before the Oxford County Commission on Tuesday, Selectmen Bruce Bean of Magalloway Plantation and Bruce Hanson of Paris called for communities to band together and pay for more deputies.

By financing them regionally, Oxford County may be able to hire as many as six or eight new deputies, Bean said.

“We don’t come to you as experts, we just come to you as two concerned citizens who think something needs to be done,” Bean told commissioners before starting up an overhead projector for a detailed presentation.

After going over property valuations, population counts and a brief assessment of police services available in Oxford County’s communities, Bean said many towns without their own police protection could afford to help pay for more officers.

For example, he said, if Porter, Hiram, Brownfield and Denmark agreed to work together, an officer to cover those areas would likely cost each town’s taxpayers an additional 18 to 25 cents per $1,000 in property valuation.

Hiring additional officers has been a contentious issue for the Sheriff’s Department, Bean noted before starting his presentation.

In 2003, Oxford County Sheriff Skip Herrick requested money to hire an additional officer but was turned down by the commission and the Oxford County Budget Committee. Herrick said Tuesday he has nine full-time patrol officers and has every intention of asking for money to hire three more in the next budget year.

“I asked for one last year and I needed three,” Herrick said. “It’s time people stepped up to the plate, as Bruce and Bruce have done.”

Greenwood Selectman Ivan Roberts, who was seated in the audience, warned against thrusting too much of the officer-related tax burden on smaller communities that don’t use as many services.

“It’s more than just per-capita, per-arrest. When you need it you need it,” responded Scot Cole of Bethel, who was also in the audience.

Oxford County Commissioners Steven Merrill, Jim Carey Jr. and Fred Kennard agreed to appoint a committee to study Bean and Hanson’s proposal, but did not say when the group would be formed.

Bean said he and Hanson hoped their ideas would encourage local community leaders “to enter into meaningful discussions.”

“I just caution that towns need to talk together and amongst each other. That’s just good government,” Herrick said.