TRENTON – The state troopers who cover the Down East area got a visit from their boss on Friday.

Col. Pat Fleming, chief of the Maine State Police, along with his command staff, conducted his annual inspection of the officers of Troop J who patrol the roads of Washington and Hancock counties.

The inspection offers the opportunity to bring all the Troop J officers together at one time, and also provides the command staff a chance to talk with the troopers about some of the daily issues they face. Fleming and his staff chatted briefly with each trooper during the formal inspection, but a closed session was scheduled afterward to talk about those types of issues.

“They can talk about the issues that affect them and the work they do here,” Fleming said. “They might have suggestions about how to deal with them that we might be able to share with another troop.”

The annual inspection carried special importance this year, since it came during Troop J’s 25th anniversary. The troop was formed on June 14, 1982, during a ceremony that assigned newly graduated troopers along with veteran officers to the Down East barracks. Several retired troopers from Troop J attended the ceremony including Robert Bragg, Steve Pickering and Brian Smith, three of the original Troop J officers.

“I remember that after the ceremony Lt. John Whynott told us to go ‘stomp out crime with both feet,'” Pickering said. “We did a damn good job of it.”

Smith, one of the newly graduated troopers, was the first officer to write a ticket from the new Troop J.

“There was a real sense of pride with being the first members of the newly formed Troop J,” Smith said.

People seemed to welcome the additional police presence,” said Bragg, who was the only sergeant in the troop then.

“I think a lot of people were glad to see us come in,” he said. “We had a lot better response time. That was a big thing for the community.”

The original Troop J had 14 troopers, and the staffing hasn’t changed much in the past 25 years, according to Lt. Chris Coleman, current commander of Troop J.

“In 1982, Gov. Brennan sent 14 troopers to Down East,” Coleman said. “At that time, our calls were averaging about 2,000 a year. Today, the headcount has gone up by one, but the calls now are more than 8,000 a year.”

Staffing is an issue statewide, Fleming confirmed. Part of the problem is increased population and where those people choose to live, he said.

“As people move out of urban areas and into more rural areas, that creates more stress on the state police and the sheriff’s departments,” he said. “Staffing is definitely a high priority issue that we’re going to have to address in the next year or two.”

Drug use has increased in Maine and drug crimes also have grown, putting more demands on the troopers, Fleming said.

“That’s been a catalyst for a lot of the crime that happens,” he said. “The Mane Drug Enforcement Agency is working to get a handle on the drugs; we’re seeing the crime that comes as people try to feed that habit.”

The development of LNG facilities in the Down East area could trigger staff increases, Fleming said. There are a number of security issues surrounding those types of facilities, he said. Many of those concerns likely will become the responsibility of the state police and sheriff’s departments, which would heighten the need for increasing staffing in Troop J.

Friday’s inspection ceremony was a bit of a family affair, with two father-son duos attending. Pickering’s son, Tom Pickering, is a state trooper in Troop J and retired Trooper David C. Burns’ son, Gregory Burns, also serves in the Down East area. Burns also has another son, Robert, who is a detective in the crime lab.

The inspection ceremony included the presentation of the “Trooper of the Troop” award, chosen by the troopers themselves, to Sgt. Alden Bustard.