HOWLAND – Residents approved a $10,000 appropriation from surplus Monday night to provide police protection for the town.

Supported by an overwhelming majority of the 40 people at Monday night’s special town meeting, the article enables the town to contract the state police and the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department to provide random patrols of the community.

The two departments now provide similar coverage for six other communities, an arrangement that has worked amicably, according to selectmen Chair Frank Kirsch. At a separate meeting Monday night, the Enfield Board of Selectmen was expected to decide whether to schedule a similar town meeting for voters to approve a similar expenditure. Police coverage in Howland, which will run until March, will occur regardless of the vote in Enfield, according to town officials.

In light of recent break-ins to Howland businesses and incidents of vandalism at the Hichborn Middle School, many residents Monday night emphasized a need for police patrols.

“We need it,” said James Lee. “There’s no other alternative.”

In a letter read at the meeting, Gerard St. Cyr, who isn’t a resident but owns two stores in town, pushed for police protection, adding that one of his businesses has been broken into six times in the last three years with no arrests. Random patrols could be beneficial in curbing criminal behavior, according to Barbara Haskell.

“I feel if people don’t know when [police] are coming, they’re going to be a little more reticent about committing a crime,” Haskell said.

One of five people to vote the article down, Jay Nadeau said the taxpayer money would be wasted when there’s no guarantee when the police coverage would occur.

“I think we’re throwing good money away,” Nadeau said.

Maine State Police Trooper Phil Dawson Jr., who offered information at the meeting, said the town could request that a trooper patrol during a specific time. The officer would be working on an overtime shift, but the town would pay a predetermined base rate.

After the meeting, former selectman Dwight Dawson said he has been in favor of a full-time officer since residents voted the town’s one-person police department out of the budget in 1994. A member of the board at the time, Dawson voted against cutting the Police Department.