State police head warns troop of looming shortfalls

BANGOR – Praising Maine state troopers for their commitment and dedication, Col. Craig Poulin, who heads the state police agency, braced them this week for more difficult times when they may be asked to do more with what they have.

“I’m proud of you. I’m proud of what you do,” Poulin said Thursday at the Armed Forces Reserve Center, addressing two dozen troopers from Troop E, which covers Penobscot and Piscataquis counties.

Poulin was on his annual inspection of the troops that began last week and will continue into next week. He was in Thomaston on Friday and will visit Troop F in Houlton, as well as detectives based in the northern region.

In Bangor, Poulin commended Troop E for doing its part in meeting goals last year, including increased emphasis on traffic enforcement that he said hadn’t been getting the attention it needed.

“I think the numbers show we’re making a difference,” Poulin said, noting that automobile-related fatalities are down 25 to 30 percent.

He also credited the troopers for their work with the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department as part of a resource-sharing agreement with Troop E to jointly cover the county.

But with rising fuel costs and after several years of delaying purchases to save money, Poulin predicted his department would have to further tighten its belt.

“The reality is that there’s a significant shortfall,” Poulin said.

The department budgeted its fuel at $1.98 a gallon, a figure they were required to use, he said. With gas prices so much higher – an estimated 50 cents a gallon higher when gas taxes are taken out of the calculation – Poulin said it is very easy to see the problem.

“We’re going to have to find a way to make this work” to fill what he described as an “awfully big hole.”

He urged the troopers to continue their efforts to conserve fuel by reducing the time they leave their cruisers idling.

As a gesture of their gas-cutting efforts, the state troopers car pooled to the inspection, with only seven marked cruisers parked in the lot, about a third of what could have been driven.

Although additional funding may be sought through a supplemental budget, Poulin admitted more would be needed.

He stopped short of saying what those changes might be, but with two state police retirees attending the inspection, Poulin recalled the time when the state asked its employees to cut back the hours they worked and the miles they covered.

But such comments came with a warning: State troopers operate on the road and must answer the calls.

“When you start doing that [curbing coverage], the public’s safety takes it on the chin,” Poulin said.

Before he addressed the troop, Poulin and his command staff filed past three lines of troopers and in a mixture of formality and informality, inspected them for anything out of place, but asked them how they were doing.

Maj. Timothy Doyle, the officer in charge of operations for the state police, stopped at veteran Trooper Dan Ryan, who covers the Milford-Orrington area.

Ryan stood at attention, his head up, hands at his side and feet close together. Yet the question he was asked seemed informal, something a neighbor might ask another neighbor.

“Are you ready for the winter out there?” Doyle queried. “It’s coming soon.”

At the end of the third line, Poulin inspected Trooper Marc Poulin, who is no relation, and quietly asked how things were going.

Marc Poulin, who serves in the relatively new position of troop detective, seemed to sum up the sentiments of the troop in his reply.

“There’s just so much work out there,” he said. “But I’m trying to manage it and keep up with it.”