Drug problems, breaking and entering, thefts, vandalism and domestic violence are issues that Mexico and Rumford voters need to be more aware of in light of the upcoming vote on police coverage.

It has been presented to the select boards that the towns can save a considerable amount of money by contracting out to the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office. I think that the Sheriff’s Office is a great organization with an outstanding leader in Sheriff Gallant, but that should not be a factor when it comes time to vote.

If voters approve the change, it will mean giving up our cruisers, computers, police station and all of our officers, from the chief down to the patrolmen. If we should decide after a year or two that we want out of the agreement, we would be looking at around a half million dollars to try and resume the local department.

It has been mentioned that the officers who would lose their jobs would be welcome to apply for a position with the Sheriff’s Department and might stand a good chance of policing their own areas under a new badge. That wouldn’t happen.

The local police officers have developed confidential informants. Each officer has them and cultivating informants sometimes take months or years. The information derived from them solves more crime than the average person knows. A new policing agency coming into town would take a long time to develop their “information network.”

We need to save the local police department.

W. Kent Mann, Mexico