LIVERMORE FALLS — Quick response time, local control and feeling safe versus cutting law enforcement services, saving money and restructuring the police force.

Those topics were debated from opposite standpoints during a discussion Wednesday on what people would like to see for law enforcement services in town.

Town Manager Jim Chaousis was in the beginning stages of taking notes, analyzing statistics and listening to people’s opinion to put together a study to go to selectmen.

A few people unrelated to the study turned out for Wednesday evening’s discussion.

Townspeople voted in June to have selectmen investigate contracts for police services.

Chaousis is hoping the dialogue will grow so that more people will turn out for two future meetings. The next one is at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 13 at Pike’s Corner Oasis in East Livermore. Chaousis will hold open office hours there during the day.

The study does not mean the town is not interested in keeping local law enforcement, he said. It will simply detail what people want for services.

“Do we need a 24/7 police force?” Chaousis asked. He facilitated the meeting, asking probing questions.

“Yes, because anything could happen at any time,” former selectman Jackie Knight said.

Response time is important, she said.

Anybody disagree with the need for 24-hour coverage? Chaousis asked.

Knight said she would not feel safe working overnight in town if the police were not nearby.

Chaousis said he had statistics that show there are some slow periods and some busier times. Staffing hours could be rearranged to meet those needs, he said.

People want to feel safe, but they also want to save money, he said.

“In a real world when you evaluate what you can afford, not just the needs and desires, you can’t fund the unknown,” Budget Committee member Ron Chadwick said.

You fund what you have and what you know you can afford, he said.

Chaousis asked what people thought the worst-case scenario would be.

“Breaking and entering where someone gets hurt,” former police dispatcher Matt Lalemand said.

How fast do you want the police there? Chaousis asked.

“Immediately,” Knight said.

Statistically, Livermore Falls police respond within 5 minutes 95 percent of the time, Chaousis said.

“What if 7 minutes was the response time and saves you 25 percent of the budget? he said. “Is that satisfactory?”

It depends on what is going on, Katie Lafreniere said.

Five percent are already falling through the crack, she said.

Chadwick said that financially, taxpayers could not fund every worst-case scenario.

Police, fire and dispatch are labor-intensive, Chaousis said. “What are you willing to sacrifice in our town for a dollar?”

Not the police, Knight said, unless the town manager has numbers that could prove differently. She doesn’t mind if the force is restructured, she said, but she doesn’t want to lose them. When dispatch was closed, the town lost its equipment and will never get it back, she said. The town has invested in police officers, she said.

“I feel comfortable police are here,” she said. Lafreniere agreed.

What if a veteran officer stayed and changed uniforms to work for another agency? Chaousis asked. “Do we have less confidence in him to control our town?”

“No,” Knight said, adding that she needs to see numbers before decisions are made.

Knight said she would rather see another department cut, even reducing the number of days the Town Office is open, rather than lose police.

The costs of police and fire protection are rising, Chadwick said, but the revenue stream is shrinking.

“If no more money comes in, we’re going to have to cut somewhere,” he said. “If you’re going to do it, you have to do it for everything. You can’t have a sacred cow. You cut a little bit from everything.”

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