WILTON – The Board of Selectmen voted Wednesday to hire the Maine Chiefs of Police Association to evaluate the Wilton Police Department.

The unanimous decision came after an executive session to discuss the performance of the department.

Town Manager Peter Nielsen said the association will conduct a review of the department beginning in December or January. Costs will be up to $5,000, paid for from the town’s legal and contingency fund. It currently has a balance of $8,200.

Nielsen said the board also asked that interim Police Chief Ed Leahy follow up on information the town received from the Franklin County District Attorney’s office regarding the Police Department. “That’s all I can say,” Nielsen said.

Assistant District Attorney James Andrews said he and Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson met with Nielsen about three weeks ago to discuss concerns they had about the department. The information had already been shared with former Police Chief James Parker and Leahy.

“We used some particular cases to illustrate those concerns,” Andrews said. He declined to elaborate.

In August, town officials began determining how they would go about hiring a new police chief after Parker’s retirement. At that time, a group of residents asked town officials to look into the workings of the department before hiring a new chief, but officials took no action on the request.

Andrews said the information given to Nielsen last month concerning the department was not driven by any citizen initiative or complaints. He said the concerns were raised after the DA’s office reviewed a variety of cases from the department. The DA’s office looks at all Franklin County police reports, Andrews said.

Andrews stressed that the DA’s office has no supervisory capacity over police departments. “We only prosecute the cases. It is totally up to the town to choose what they do with the information we give them,” Andrews said.

Maine Chiefs of Police Association Executive Director Robert Schwartz said he discussed the situation with the town and sent them a contract to sign.

“As soon as we get that contract back we can begin the review,” Schwartz said.

He said three or four former experienced police chiefs volunteer to do the review.

“We don’t do investigations. It is an evaluation,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said the volunteers will look at all aspects of the department operations, including the administration, training, equipment and the facility. He said the association will also look over the department’s policies and procedures to make sure they are up to date.

Schwartz said it is generally expected that such a review will take about 90 days to complete. A report of its findings will then be sent to the town.