Officers for the Maine Capitol Police are worried about being pushed out of their jobs after state officials told them this week that the agency will be taken over by the Maine State Police, according to the head of the union representing Capitol Police officers.
The law enforcement agency, which oversees security at the Maine State House in Augusta, includes about a dozen officers who protect state lawmakers and visitors.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck announced the change in an email to staff Wednesday, as first reported by the Bangor Daily News.
According to a copy of the email obtained by the Press Herald, Sauschuck told officers that the “complete transition” may take years as state troopers begin to fill vacant Capitol Police positions.
“This change will improve resource allocation, operational efficiency and crisis response. It will also serve to strengthen the bond and joint security mission shared by the Executive Protection Unit,” Sauschuck wrote.
The Executive Protection Unit is a state police unit that provides security for Maine’s governor and their family.
Sauschuck and Maine State Police Lt. Greg Roy, who will be overseeing the Capitol Police starting next week, did not respond to requests for interviews Friday.
Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, said in an email Friday that there will be no layoffs as part of the change. She declined to answer further questions about the transition period.
Still, some Capitol officers are concerned about what the absorption could mean for their jobs, said a representative for the union that represents the agency’s eight full-time officers.
Kevin Anderson, executive director of the Maine State Law Enforcement Association, said in an interview Friday that the officers don’t know why the decision was made, aside from what Sauschuck wrote in his email.
Anderson said the union plans to file a labor complaint against the Department of Public Safety related to the change.
Anderson also referenced the recent departure of former Capitol Police Chief Matthew Clancy, who resigned in October after he was arrested and accused of assaulting an officer while being inebriated at a bar in Hallowell.
“If you need a new chief, hire a new chief,” Anderson said. “There’s plenty of people out there qualified to take on that position.”
In recent years, Maine police have reported an uptick in violent threats against state lawmakers, which have prompted police to evacuate the Capitol complex multiple times.
Anderson said the current officers are up for the job. They haven’t received complaints about their performance, he said, so they shouldn’t be replaced.
“These people have 20 and 30 years experience in law enforcement. These aren’t people that are green,” he said. “That’s why they like to hire those folks (as Capitol Police), because the job is so specialized.”
According to Maine law, Capitol Police officers are exempt from the state’s basic law enforcement training procedures but undergo an additional 120-hour training specifically for their roles at the Capitol complex. They are also required to participate in preservice and in-service law enforcement training.
Moss, the Department of Public Safety spokesperson, declined to answer questions about those training requirements, including whether they will shift as state troopers take positions at the Capitol.
Anderson said many Capitol officers took a pay cut when moving into their roles. Several of them joined the force after working for the Winthrop Police Department, he said.
Anderson said his members are concerned about how seniority and personnel issues will be handled when state troopers start filling these positions. Some Capitol Police officers have more than a decade left before retirement.
Capitol Police are also paid significantly less and have a different union contract than state troopers, he added. Capitol Police officers’ base pay starts at just over $22 per hour, while state troopers’ base pay begins around $31 per hour, Anderson said.
