Pity the neighbors of Bucksport who find trouble just beyond that town’s boundaries and no one to help but a Bucksport police officer. Nothing wrong with the officers, you understand. They just aren’t allowed to cross the boundary to lend a hand.

Police officers have specific responsibilities within their own communities, of course, and risk having their beat left uncovered if they stray. Sometimes this risk is well-taken: The most important weapon an officer carries is good judgment. If, as in the case of Bucksport Officer Kevin Megno last week, he decides to assist nearby and the evidence of that particular case supports his decision, then it’s fair to say he made the right move.

Bucksport has a rule against using this kind of judgment, so Officer Megno and dispatcher Carole Gray were suspended with pay after the officer crossed the bridge to Verona to help a pedestrian who had been hit by a car. Though the officer had been warned previously not to go beyond his jurisdiction, when he saw the accident while patrolling in Bucksport, Officer Megno — who is also an emergency medical technician and a fire fighter — decided he was in the best position to help.

Officer Megno was the first on the scene to help the victim, tested then arrested the driver of the car for operating while intoxicated and, in about 10 minutes, returned to Bucksport before its streets were overrun with hoodlums. Despite the fact that he helped a person with serious injuries and got a dangerous driver off the road, the town’s rule took priority. So, the suspensions.

If residents of Bucksport take it upon themselves to suggest sometime soon that perhaps that rule needs to be modified, they might offer a couple of possible events for town officials to consider.

What if an accident or a crime occurred just a foot or two over the boundary? Could the officer help then or would he be forced to stand at the line and wait for someone else to step in? What if the reverse happened and an officer from a nearby city was in a position to easily stop a crime in Bucksport? Does that officer cross the boundary or do good offenses make good neighbors?