LIVERMORE FALLS – Some police officers and dispatchers here are looking for job opportunities elsewhere, citing job uncertainty and not being able to give townspeople the services they deserve.

One patrolman has already taken a job with a neighboring police department.

Chief Ernest Steward Jr. said he has been looking and Lt. Thomas Gould has been putting in his name for police chief at other departments.

“They don’t feel the backing of the town,” Steward said.

Steward has voiced his opinion all along that the cuts made in the police force in the last two years have cut corners too close. He is also asking selectmen and the town manager to do a cost analysis of departments in the town.

The force has been cut by two full-time officers, leaving five full-time officers. As a result of the most recent cut, a night shift with two officers on duty was eliminated four out of seven days.

Patrolman Roderick Small has resigned from the department to take a job in Jay, but selectmen gave the chief the authority to hire another officer to replace him.

Selectmen have said they cut staff to save money and make town government more cost efficient for taxpayers. They’ve made cuts in other departments for the same reasons, officials said.

“It’s not that we don’t like the town and the people,” Steward said. “We like working here, but it’s been a constant struggle during budgets to keep what we got to maintain staff.”

Steward said uncertainty of having a job is a major factor in the job searches.

“They do this job because they like this job, but they’ve got to be able to support their families,” he said. “There is enough stress in this type of job with dealing with everybody else’s problems without having to worry about their own.”

Steward said he has been running the department for 16 years, and it hasn’t had any big problems or complaints.

“And for a small department we’ve done a pretty decent job, but now we’re cut back to the point we’re just going through the motions,” he said. “We don’t have the time and manpower to be proactive and effective. I don’t feel we’re able to do the job with what we’ve got for staffing.”

Small, who worked for Steward for five years, said in his resignation letter that the reason he is leaving is opportunity.

He cited higher pay in Jay, shorter working shifts, and the Farmington court’s being closer to his home in Industry than the Lewiston court. However, he said he appreciated the health care package that the town offered.

Small also said that since Livermore Falls removed two positions from the Police Department, he sees several issues that will evolve.

“The department is running too thinly,” Small said. “Important cases will not be able to be handled like they should be. I want to be part of a team that can give its all to the community. This will no longer be the case in Livermore Falls. We all try hard, but that will not be enough. It is the average citizen that will suffer. They will not get the service that they deserve. I have already had to refuse to answer simple complaints because I have been tied up with more serious ones. Even though the person really didn’t need my help this time, it gives them a negative impression of our department.”

Other concerns, Small said, with the new staffing limitations was working alone at night, the possibility of a fellow worker being hurt and officers burning out in an effort to fill vacation time.

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