FARMINGTON — Selectmen approved one of two officer appointments at the Farmington Police Department Tuesday.

One candidate withdrew from the Farmington position just minutes before the meeting in order to accept another position that provided a little more pay and better health insurance benefits, said Police Chief Richard Caton.

Thinking he had two of the three vacant officer positions filled, Caton now has two vacancies in the department, facing competition for officers with other departments that may not only offer better pay but also provide better insurance. The town now requires employees to pay 50 percent of insurance increases and for a family, that’s huge, he said Wednesday.

The department’s newest officer began working and was sworn in Wednesday morning following the board’s confirmation of her employment.

Kimberly J. Bates, 24, originally from Carratunk, received a master’s degree in criminal justice recently from Northeastern University, Caton said.

With an earlier bachelor of science degree in sociology from the University of Maine Orono, Bates has most recently been serving as a reserve officer in Wells.

Undecided about where to focus her studies while at Orono, she was given the task of interviewing someone in a position that interested her.

“I interviewed a police officer and that was it,” she said of her reason to go on and study criminal justice.

Bates is expected to attend the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in August, Caton said.

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