Limestone, County extend police coverage alliance

LIMESTONE – A partnership between the town and the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department has worked out well for everyone involved, and officials from both parties said Tuesday that they will keep the alliance going for another year.

The Limestone Board of Selectmen voted unanimously at a recent meeting to extend a current law enforcement contract with the ACSD for another year, according to Sheriff Jim Madore. The agreement took effect July 1.

The town initially signed a six-month contract with the Sheriff’s Department effective Jan 1. The town paid the county $119,000 for the first contract.

The one-year contract will have Limestone paying the county around $250,000, Madore said Tuesday.

After several years of having retention problems with the local police force, municipal officials contracted with the Sheriff’s Department for full-time police protection.

The service includes three full-time officers and a sergeant who serves as police chief. All officers are police academy trained.

The Sheriff’s Department retained all of Limestone’s police equipment, and deputies in Limestone do not answer calls elsewhere while on duty in the town.

The transition has been smooth for both entities, according to Madore and Limestone Town Manager Donna Bernier.

“Things are going well, so we are very happy,” the sheriff said. “The selectmen also seem to be happy. I have not received any complaints from the Limestone citizens about our services.”

Bernier concurred.

“We are very, very happy with what the Sheriff’s Department is doing up here,” she said Tuesday. “I have not heard one bad word about this arrangement from our citizens.”

Madore acknowledged that the department has seen “a little bit of turnover” among the officers assigned to Limestone.

“But we expected that,” he admitted. “We are down one full-time officer up there, but we are holding our own with the help of our part-time officers. That is one of the advantages of this contract – if a Limestone deputy is unavailable to work up there, we can call on other deputies to come in. … It is a good situation for everyone.”