DIXFIELD – Called the Police Department lately and heard a woman’s voice on the other end of the line?

The department has a new part-time secretary, Barbara Greenwood, who works in the office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., five days a week, said Chief Richard A. Pickett.

Greenwood, who started last week, was hired through the National Council on Aging.

“This is the first time since I’ve been working here that we’ve ever had a secretary,” Pickett said.

At town meeting in June, the Finance Committee sought to fund a position for a secretary for the chief. But Pickett turned down the offer, saying the National Council on Aging had stepped forward, offering him a part-time secretary.

In other police news, Pickett told selectmen at their meeting Monday night that he has volunteered to assign an officer to conduct a survey to determine which areas in town need streetlights.

“We want to make them more safe for the public,” Pickett said Wednesday.

The chief’s offer to help followed a resident-initiated request for a streetlight on Brackett Street, because the neighborhood is so dark, Town Manager Nanci Allard said Tuesday.