MEXICO – Following a 20-minute executive session Wednesday night, selectmen hired a full-time police officer and made a full-timer a reserve officer.
Selectman George Byam motioned to appoint Dustin Broughton of Rumford to fill a full-time vacancy and to move Officer Dean Benson to reserve status. Both changes are to begin Sunday, Jan. 1.
It was unanimously approved.
After the board adjourned, Mexico Police Chief Jim Theriault said Benson’s employment was changed due to medical reasons, not performance issues.
“Dean is an excellent officer, does a great job, is level headed, and knows his job,” Theriault said. “I have no concerns at all when he’s working. I have no concerns when any of my officers work. They know their job and they do it,” he added.
But Benson, who has been a full-time officer for Mexico for 16 months, suffered an injury when he was serving his country as a marine in Operation Desert Storm, the Persian Gulf War, Theriault said.
“He has degenerative hip disease, which was caused by the chemicals used over there,” he said. That is causing a problem with passing a physical agility test required for full-time law enforcement certification by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.
“He can do the physical agility tests, but he can’t do it in the allotted time,” he said.
The test is a 1 mile run that must be done just under 14 minutes for Benson’s age. Theriault said he had Benson do the test for him and he finished just over the maximum time limit.
“He is capable of doing every aspect of this job. But I don’t know why anyone who is in their right mind is going to chase somebody a mile and a half. I know I’m not going to,” Theriault said.
Before he joined Mexico police, Benson also worked part-time for eight years with Norway, Bethel and Dixfield police departments.
Benson was not at Wednesday night’s meeting.
As a reserve officer, Benson can only work 1,040 hours in the state, and, in Mexico, is to make $13.53 an hour, a dollar less than he was getting as a full-time officer.
Theriault said Broughton, who went through the academy on his own through college and graduated, has been working for Wilton Police Chief Wayne Gallant as a reserve officer for a few months.
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