RUMFORD – As of 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24, all calls to the Rumford police station will be routed through Paris.

Additionally, the station will be locked and closed to the public for 12 hours from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., said Chief Timothy Bourassa.

“It’s something we’re trying, a cost-saving measure,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “By doing this, we eliminate two positions and save the town about $68,000.”

At 7 p.m. on the appointed date, Bourassa said that all calls to the station number, 364-4551, will go instead to the Oxford County Regional Communication Center in Paris.

The center, which provides central dispatching for Oxford County, is not affiliated with the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, which is also located in Paris.

“If you dial 364-4551, you will get the regional communication center. Instead of listening to the spiel, push 1 and it will put you directly in touch with a dispatcher.

“Give your complaint just like you would calling here, and it will be given to the boys on the streets here,” Bourassa said.

But if it’s an emergency, he said callers should still dial 911, and a regional communication center dispatcher will answer immediately.

The Rumford station will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with citizen dispatchers staffing the station.

“There will absolutely be no change in service. From 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., there will be two officers patrolling on the streets and a shift sergeant who will be in and out of the station,” Bourassa said.

As part of the change, Rumford Sgt. Stacy Carter was promoted to detective, leaving only Sgts. Tracey Higley and George Cayer as supervisors.