Brownville had four options for police coverage Town opts to maintain status quo

BROWNVILLE – Town Manager Sophie Wilson said Friday she wanted to clarify the options the community considered earlier in the week regarding police coverage.

A Bangor Daily News story on that meeting reported that three options were considered for providing police protection, when actually there were four.

In one the town could hire a full-time police chief and a full-time patrol officer. Each officer would work 24-hour shifts, as is done now, with 10 hours of patrolling and 14 hours on call. The current system has several drawbacks, including little supervision and a demanding 48-hours-on, 48-hours-off schedule that leaves police officers with little sleep and possibly impaired performance.

A second option would be to have officers work 12-hour shifts, requiring an additional part-time officer at an estimated cost of $17,000, or use reserve officers at a cost of $11,650.

The other two options, which were blended into one in the NEWS story, included: a collaborative departmental effort maintaining two chiefs, at an increased cost to Brownville of about $1,200. This option would have increased police time on the streets 80 percent. The other option would have Brownville and Milo share one chief at a cost savings of $8,000 for Brownville and $20,000-plus for Milo, according to Wilson.

Ultimately the town opted to maintain the status quo, which is a 24-hour shift schedule.

The discussion came up in part because Brownville has been relying on Milo Police Chief Todd Lyford since the August resignation of former Brownville Police Chief Scott Stubbs.

The other factor is the Police Department in Brownville has struggled with staffing, relying on intermittent coverage from Milo since June 2000.