Law enforcement agreement points to need for more officers

The Maine State Police (MSP) and the Washington County Sheriff's Office (WSCO) signed a new resource sharing agreement at the end of May that outlines the changes to law enforcement services provided to the county by the state police. While the list of services provided by the state police is comprehensive and essential, it outlines a glaring need not being met - the regular presence of rural patrol.
"For the circumstances, it's the best we could do," says Washington County Sheriff Barry Curtis of the agreement. He's not happy with it, though. "We've been talking about this happening for a few years," adds Chief Deputy Michael Crabtree. It comes down to who is available to respond to calls for service, and without the MSP having regular patrol troopers, and municipalities cutting back on their own police coverage or unable to fill positions, the burden is increasingly falling on the WCSO to have deputies answer calls for service. "From the sheriff's perspective, the concern is we just can't continue to burden the taxpayer with these [increases in sheriff deputy] positions," explains Crabtree.
Washington County Commission Chair Chris Gardner says that he in no way faults the Maine State Police. It's the legislature that needs to figure out how to fund rural patrol coverage. "The state has a duty to patrol rural communities, and the MSP has been the mechanism to fulfill the mission." As for all that the MSP offers with its special services outlined in the agreement, he says, "What they offer is fantastic." He stresses that it's also something they offer to the entire state, whereas patrolling rural parts of the state was a service provided to counties with large rural areas.
The state police patrol trooper coverage declined significantly over the years and was recently down to one trooper on patrol per shift to provide 24/7 coverage 365 days per year to Washington County. The agreement notes that a patrol trooper will be assigned to the county if and when resources and availability allow.
Lt. Michael Johnston, commander of Troop J, now part of the Northern Field Troop responsible for Washington County, explains that the agreement was worked on by both parties. "I engaged with the sheriff last fall and spoke at the [county] budget committee in October to discuss the pressures facing the MSP." The agreement is good for a year, he notes. "The situation could change for both of us." He hopes that staffing challenges will improve the MSP's ability to meet its mission down the road. "It will take time, but it will improve. So the agreement should reflect" the changes that can happen.
The agreement outlines what areas of law enforcement the MSP will perform in the county, including patrolling Route 9, Route 1 and high accident prone areas. The state police will work in the county with specialized teams on: homicides and suspicious deaths; computer crimes and cell phone analysis; crime scenes; underwater recovery; incident management; commercial vehicle enforcement; crash reconstruction and mapping; K 9 assistance; crisis negotiation; crowd management; bomb team; special event assistance; drug recognition evaluation; honor guard and more.
As an example of how the MSP works in the county, Johnston points out that from July 9 to August 30 the MSP had 69 patrol calls, with troopers "actively patrolling Washington County." During that time there were 193 traffic stops leading to eight outstanding arrest warrants. In addition, the state police responded to two fatal motor vehicle accidents, providing eight troopers to one scene and seven to another. "Those troopers are pulled from all over the state. That's a significant deployment of resources," he notes. When the USS Oscar Austin came to Eastport in July, "We sent 10 troopers for two days." This included the dive team and bomb detection team "to provide specialty services to the community." He adds that even more recently a tactical and crime unit team was in the county focusing on child predators.
The MSP special tactical team work takes a lot more time and resources than before, Johnston says. The units deal with an increasing number of high risk incidents, and troopers tasked with the units are supposed to be part-time, he says, but they are becoming full-time, meaning they are pulled away from other work. One strategy to meet the workload is canceling time off, an unhealthy situation for high stress work, he adds.
The state police have not had an increase in patrol troopers since 1977, despite asking the Maine Legislature for more funds to increase their numbers. Earlier in May, Shannon Moss, public information officer with the Maine Department of Public Safety, explained, "We have repeatedly said over the last four and one half years that the Maine State Police haven't had a patrol staffing increase since the 1970s. Like many other law enforcement agencies in Maine we are facing a significant staffing shortage. We are 50 troopers down with dozens of retirements looming."
Curtis notes that the Maine Sheriffs Association and the County Commissioners Association plan to meet in September, holding a joint session to discuss the law enforcement pressures the state's counties are facing. Crabtree says, "The powers that be will chew on it. We have no idea what the legislature is going to do. We're just trying to focus on our little neck of the woods."
Gardner says, "For us, going forward, the sheriffs association, the counties, the MSP, we all need to band together, to go Augusta, to the legislature, and say, 'We need more rural patrol.'" He adds, "We need to work collaboratively." Property owners in the county cannot continue to see increases in their property taxes, he says.