ROCKLAND – Potential hires are currently ensconced in the application process at Rockland Police Dept. Yet, Police Chief Tim Carroll has already returned to the City Council to request an additional patrol officer position, a move that takes place just as the City enters another budget season.

Carroll believes that in the last 18 months since he took the chief position, the department has made some great strides in equipment, manpower, and working with the community. But, a number of outside factors have put a strain on the small staff, and though the addition of the potential hires would put the department back in the perceived “fully staffed” mode, the burden for patrol officers is far from alleviated.

Carroll cited the following statistics when he addressed Council on January 3, 2024:

The call volume alone for the city of Rockland for 2023 was 8,072 calls for service. That’s 6 percent increase over 2021, and a 10 percent increase over 2022.

Over the past two years, thefts increased 62 percent; a lot of those thefts were drug related. Mental health and well-being calls increased 47 percent, and criminal mischief (vandalism) increased 36 percent.

Daytime call volume is up 20 percent, and, since the number of calls during the day drastically outnumber the calls during the night, RPD has adjusted its staff schedule accordingly.

However, the criminal justice process, which patrol officers look to as the next step after making an arrest, has slowed drastically, according to Carroll.

The Sheriff’s Office is at a critical stage with staffing. As a result, some of the sections of the jail have been closed. With these closures and other jail staffing issues, patrol officers are relied upon to help with the bail process that normally is done by a County employee. If RPD should arrest somebody on a warrant, they now need to sit and wait for the person to make bail, which requires calling the bail commissioner and waiting for that employee to come in.

A basic warrant arrest could take as much as 90 minutes, leaving only one other officer out on patrol. An OUI arrest used to take around 60-90 minutes. Now it’s increased to 2-3 hours. A recent crash in which the driver was found to be OUI, and then found to be under the influence of drugs, consumed 5.5 hours of an officer’s time in order to properly process that situation, thereby leaving the other officer alone to handle all of the other calls in the city.

“Addressing substance use – which is very much a problem that we have here in Rockland – to do it properly, takes a lot of time. Takes a lot of effort,” said Carroll. “It’s not just addressing the crime; we’re going much more in depth in our investigations to try to find the root cause – where they are getting the drugs.”

The extra time with the people and the investigations are a way to try to interrupt the supply line of drugs that is well noted in the Midcoast, but also a step toward the Community Policing that Rockland describes itself as a leader in, with recognition at the local, state, and federal levels. As for the people involved in the drug crimes: “Initially they are the suspect that we address the crime with, but then we kind of address it more as the victim of having an addiction, dealing with their substance use,” he said. “We try to build rapport and we try to get them the help they need.”

Since starting the youth mentorship program, juvenile arrests have gone down 50 percent.

“It’s not saying that kids aren’t acting up, but we are handling it in a different way,” said Carroll. “We are doing almost an in-house accountability with our juveniles. The juvenile justice system just didn’t seem to be working as well as it should, in my opinion.”

Because of the officers extending additional time and effort into the program, kids are now calling them directly for help, instead of fighting them as they had done year ago.

Carroll said that kids are not calling in a manner that is acting out. Instead they are calling and saying “hey, I have this problem. Can you help me?”

“I think we are truly making a difference,” he said. “It’s just a matter of hours and time in the day to get everything done. We just need a little extra support on the shifts in order to continue to build and do even the better job that I think we are capable of doing.”

Spinning off of that mentorship, RPD would like to create a school resource officer for Oceanside High School.

“I think if we can have a continual presence in the school, talking and dealing with the kids, I think we’ll gain even more with our youth in the area,” he said.

If that position is created, there is talk of having that officer spend summers as a parking officer.

And, for everyone in the community, regardless of age or situation, an almost $200,000 grant was just approved for RPD to be the lead in developing and trainings in de-escalation, duty to intervene, as well as implicit bias.

In return, Penny York said: “Thank you for all you’ve done. I mean, 18 months, the amount that you’ve accomplished in that short period of time is phenomenal.”

Adam Lachman commended the police department on the shift in relationship between the PD and area adolescence.

“The comment I get a lot is people recognizing that you are going out of your traditional lane to build these relationships, to make these investments,” said Lachman.

Following the discussion, the City Council members unanimously acknowledged support for Carroll’s initial request of adding another patrol officer position. They were also not opposed to Carroll’s idea of reinstating an MDEA detective (financed by the State), or the idea of purchasing an electric bicycle that can be used for bike patrols, yet can get to the other side of the city quickly in an emergency. Councilors did, however, show amusement when Carroll somewhat jokingly asked for a new police station. 

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com