Make a gift in honor of the good that comes from BDN journalism in your hands, and help raise $60,000 this spring to support our reporting. Make a donation now.
CAMDEN, Maine — Camden residents support maintaining a town police department with a full-time chief by an overwhelming margin, based on the votes cast Tuesday on three nonbinding questions.
Three nonbinding questions related to police services appeared on a separate ballot for Camden voters.
The first asked whether the town should maintain a full-service police department consistent with its traditional level of service. Voters said yes by a margin of 2,145 to 276.
The second asked whether the Select Board and town manager should consider the financial costs and benefits of using an outside law enforcement agency, such as the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, to provide all or a portion of law enforcement services specifically designated for patrol within the town of Camden. To this, 871 voted yes and 1,494 voted no.
The third asked whether the town should maintain its own independent police chief as a town employee on either a full- or part-time basis.
Residents voted full time yes 1,412, and 97 no.
As to part time, 627 voted yes and 19 voted no.
All of the town meeting budget questions and the school budget questions passed by wide margins at the polls.
The polls were massively busy in Camden throughout the day Tuesday in the largest turnout most had seen in recent memory.
The future of the police department has been hotly debated in town since longtime Chief Randy Gagne announced Jan. 23 that he was leaving his role running the police departments in both Camden and Rockport to take a position as a patrol officer in Rockland.
Following his departure, Rockport notified Camden that it was terminating the towns’ agreement for shared police chief services. Under that arrangement, Gagne was an employee of the town of Camden, while Rockport paid 40% of the cost of the position.
Lt. Chris Young was promoted to interim chief for Rockport.
The Camden Select Board voted to contract with the sheriff’s office on an interim basis through June 15 to oversee administration of the department until a new chief can be installed.
Concerned that the town could eventually disband its police department and contract with the county for law enforcement services, a group of residents and business owners submitted a petition seeking to put the question before voters in the June 9 election.
In response to the pushback, Town Manager Audra Caler proposed maintaining the status quo and moving forward with hiring a new chief. Town officials, however, have not ruled out revisiting the idea of contracting for police services.
Camden has been interviewing candidates for police chief.
Caler said at the last Select Board meeting that there were six candidates to be interviewed, and she expected at least two rounds of interviews before a candidate is recommended to the Select Board for approval.
She also listed the members of the town selection committee considering applications: Rick Bates, former Rockport town manager; Ed Boylan, a former local police officer and corporate human resources professional; former Rockland Police Chief Bruce Boucher; and Deputy Finance Director Jodi Richards.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.