GOULDSBORO, Maine — Gouldsboro, Maine -- home to 1,700 people and three police officers.
Three too many, according to life long resident Becky Irwin.
She collected signatures on a petition to disband the town's police department.
"I had to go to every person. I had to be there for every signature, present for every signature," she said.
In total, she got 97 signatures -- enough to get the decision on the ballot.
"I do hope that the department is disbanded. I don't think the town can afford another police officer. I don't think we need that much police time," she added.
Police last year in Gouldsboro received a total of 930 calls.
The reasons were:
- Property check request (91 calls)
- False 911 calls (79 calls)
- Paper service (61 calls)
- Mental health issues/check (38 calls)
- Check well-being of a person (36 calls)
- Dog nuisance (34 calls)
- Suspicious person/MV/incident (31 calls)
- Assist local police department (29 calls)
- Citizen traffic complaint (28 calls)
- PD-traffic accident (26 calls)
"Everybody knows public safety is incredibly important to a town, and there's no perfect solution," Melinda Boumans said.
Boumans thinks the solutions lie in the Hancock County Sheriff's Department, which she thinks can better patrol and protect Gouldsboro. It's a better idea, she says, than spending another $136,000 for two more officers in the town.
That's what Gouldsboro would need to be a 24/7 department.
"We're dependent on Hancock County already for half of our coverage," Boumans said.
There are 37 towns in the county. Only seven of them have police departments, so taking on police work is nothing new for the Sheriff and his deputies.
Contracting with the Sheriff's Department would still be costly to Gouldsboro residents, depending on how many hours the town would contract for.
According to Boumans' figures, the Gouldsboro Police Department 2020 budget is $209,063.
If the town contracted 40 hours from the Hancock County Sheriff's Department, it would cost $110,810. 60 hours would hit $156,347, and 80 hours, $201,885.
The Gouldsboro town manager was unavailable for comment.
The community will be voting on whether they want to disband the police department on Tuesday, June 11.