hence no cops in Monson...well occasionally I see a few go down the street...but nothing major

I would assume that if this contract is signed, the deputies assigned to Milo would not be people from the deputies already with assigned areas for the County, but rather would be additionaly hired deputies to cover this assignment.

The proposed wages per deputy come out to about $47,800 per deputy. I wonder what a Milo officer gets now-- more or less than that??

Does the Sheriff Gogin really wants the additional headaches this could bring. Or is this JUST a proposal?

Things to consider- other than financial ones. If the Town and the County come to an agreement as proposed- remembe r this- The Town loses local control of the police. For whatever that may be worth. So if 3 deputies are assigned to Milo, and there is a major conflict with one or more of the offiecers- The Sheriff makes the decisions as to disipline etc, . Even with the former chief -the town held the ultimate deciosion making ability as to whether or not to disipline and to what extent. What I am saying smiply put the citizens no longer have a say in how the dept is run.

This is not about the Sheriff- he is a good Sheriff and is doing as asked. Sounds to me like the town Government is abdicating it's responsibilities.

So they have had a rough patch with the Police- so what- buck up and get on with it. Maybe you could farm out snow plowing and the water dept too.

Closing down the police department will be a grave error. There has yet to be a community that has agreed closing thier police department was a well informed decision. All that has ever come from the closing of a department was REGRET. Before you commssioners put the all mighty dollar before your citizenry why dont you ask your governors office what it will take to re-start a police department in the event you are not happy with the service you may or may not get from your sheriff, then explain it in FULL to the people you are supposed to represent. And once your on the hoook to the sheriff he can use many different excuses to increase your cost or protection. When will it end? What is the potential effect on local business and residential insurance costs?

Read the sheriffs own words for petres sake! Three deputies will live in the surounding Milo area? What does "surrounding area" mean? Whats going to happen if you have a shoplifter in your business, or a domestic violence in progress, or an intruder in your home? Are you willing to wait for a deputy to arrive from a "SURROUNDING AREA"? That can easily take as much as 40 minutes. Are you willing to wait 40 minutes for help or do you want a repsonse of a mnute or two? After about six months or so every community that has closed a police department has come to the reality that they are being treated more as a budget generator than people. CLOSING THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS A BAD BAD UN INFORMED DECISION THAT HAS ON DODR OF POLITICS AROUND IT. NOT HAVING A DEDICATED POLICE FORCE WILL ONLY BE A STEP TOWARDS THE DEMISE OF ANOTHER GREAT AMERICAN TOWN. Please make a wise well informed decision and ask the commissioners to consider money last, and poepl first.

Oh brother, lets not forget the UNION. You people are crazy for putting yourself and property in teh hands of lawmen that will deliberately slow down service in the event of a contract dispute. YOUR local police wont do that. They live there, shop there and raise thier kids there.

Piscataquis county deputies are not unionized. I would suspect that sheriff initiated the proposal. Milo , historically has had a politically based police department. The loss is that many of the part-timers are not academy qualified and would not be accepted at the sheriff's department.

deputies, no. But others that directly affect the performance of them, yes. I agree, the unfortunate men that are not ceritified will be shown the door. Fault in that lies on the shoulders of more than those poor guys. Weak leadership may have contributed towards their fate. A good leader might have ensured they have had the availablility of training to get the proper certification. And even if they were certifed, the sheriff made no mention of absorning them into his dept. Either way the sheriff made the offer with no mention of improvement of any service or to what minimmum the taxpayers can expect their services to be. Assume nothing people. If the city does not nail him down letter by letter they will not have one leg to stand on when the town unravels from crime.

remember, the sheriff only offered three deputies. Nothing more. NOTHING. Do you really think hes going to provide investigators/inspectors, crime scene people etc etc etc etc for free? Hello!!!! Nothing is free. Anyone who believes three is enough is very uninfomed. Remember, three shift per day,seven days per week. That does not include, training time, sick time, vacation time, court time, deposition time, investigation time etc etc etc. Your being short handed and the sheriff knows it. Hes pulling the wool over your eyes and nobody sees it. How tragic.