PARIS — Emotions ran high at a public hearing Monday on whether the town should disband its Police Department in favor of a contract for coverage with the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office.

Residents favoring Sheriff’s Office coverage said the police department is too expensive and called the department mismanaged and ineffective. Those defending the department, including interim Chief Jerry Hinton, said Paris had a staff of dedicated, loyal officers who know the town well.

The meeting, which ran more than two hours and had about 80 people in attendance, began with a brief explanation of the two options by Board of Selectmen Vice Chairman Robert Kirchherr.

The recommended operating budget for the Police Department, if residents vote to keep it, is $591,392. That includes five patrolmen, the police chief and a school resource officer. It also includes sending three officers to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, a state requirement for full-time officers, as well as overtime to cover those officers’ shifts during their 18-week academy training.

Including necessary capital improvements such as a new police car and an upgrade to a new radio system, the total cost of keeping the department is $656,894 for 2013-14. The estimated 2014-15 figure is $560,000.

The Sheriff’s Office contract would cost the town $548,159 for the first year, including startup costs, and $428,077 for the second year. That includes five deputies, vehicles, clothing and radios. In subsequent years, the Sheriff’s Office agrees not to raise rates more than 2 percent per year. That means the most the it could request for year three is $436,639.

Each year, the selectmen and town manager would have the ability to accept or reject the sheriff’s contract.

All cars and service weapons currently owned by the Police Department would become the property of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office.

Both the town and the Sheriff’s Office have the right, at any time, to terminate the contract with 60 days’ notice. In that event, the county will convey cars and service weapons in comparable condition back to the town.

Paris police would be given the opportunity to apply for deputy positions, but Sheriff Wayne Gallant said his department doesn’t hire officers without academy training. That means the three Paris officers without academy training wouldn’t be eligible for deputy positions.

Interim Chief Hinton, who is working with the town on a temporary basis, defended the current department. He said Paris is the fifth town for which he has provided contract police chief work, in addition to his time with the Brunswick and Portsmouth police departments, and he said Paris has very good officers.

“I found this department to be very professional,” Hinton said. He pointed out that one of the officers without academy training had 19 years of law enforcement experience. “There’s a lot of experience standing before you in the back of the room,” he said, referring to the line of uniformed Paris officers.

“You’ve got a sergeant who pours his heart and soul into this community,” Hinton said, referring to Skip Mowatt, who serves as school resource officer.

Hinton also complimented the budget, as requested by former interim Chief Michael Dailey, which Hinton said was necessary for a strong department.

Hinton said he did find “internal strife,” in the department, but said the department has the potential for greatness if the town hires the right full-time chief. If the town votes to keep the police department, Hinton will assist in the hiring process for a new chief.

Several residents in support of the department asked why the Budget Committee cut the budgets of other departments, but not the Police Department. Some implied that the intent was to make the department look more expensive than it needed to be.

Vic Hodgkins, chairman of the Budget Committee, defended the committee’s recommendation. He said that recommending the department’s original request was a way of supporting the department, if it remained. In the end, he endorsed the Sheriff’s Office.

“If you can have a professional service that is already going to be academy certified, at a lower cost, who am I to stand in your way?” he asked.

Asked about the inability of the Sheriff’s Office to enforce local ordinances, Gallant said town ordinances are rarely, if ever, prosecuted and that in most cases the code enforcement officer or fire chief is able to enforce them.

One resident and former selectman with insight into both departments spoke to the issue. Skip Herrick, who was town police chief from 1980 to 1990 and county sheriff until 2006, said the town could have excellent coverage with either option. He said the department had been mismanaged in the past but had the potential to be great again.

“I do believe that we’re not in the same situation that Bethel was in,” Herrick said. “We do have functioning, professional police officers that are on the job serving us and protecting us. I think, with the right management, that we can have a very, very professional, organized police department.”

Bethel voters disbanded their department in favor of Sheriff’s Office service.

Residents will vote on whether to keep the Paris department or switch to county coverage in a June 11 referendum. 

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