The Hancock Select Board agreed to look further into the potential for merging police departments with Bennington at a meeting in Bennington Tuesday night.
“I think we’re smart to look into it, optimistically,” Hancock Select Board member Jeff Brown said at Tuesday’s Bennington Select Board meeting, but Hancock’s decision to merge would ultimately be dictated by how much money they can expect to save by merging, he said. The assembly resolved to interview Temple-Greenville Police Chief Jim McTague about that department’s merger, and hear McTague’s advice for other towns attempting the same.
Bennington initiated the conversation with Hancock since Police Chief Bret Sullivan intends to retire on May 31, Bennington Select Board Chair Jim Cleary said. Bennington initiated a similar conversation with Antrim when Sullivan’s predecessor Chief Steve Campbell retired in 2015, Cleary said. The timing was off: Antrim had just built their new police station and believed a merger would cost them more, he said.
Hancock also considered a merged police department upon the departure of former Chief Andrew Wood this fall, but ultimately opted to promote Tom Horne, Hancock Select Board Chair Laurie Bryan said.
The Select Boards also discussed the town of Sharon’s arrangement with Peterborough police, in which Sharon pays an annual fee in exchange for the neighboring town to respond to police calls and conduct a set number of patrol hours, but they did not believe either Hancock or Bennington was suited for such an arrangement.
Cleary said he believed both Hancock and Bennington could halve their police budgets by joining forces. Hancock Select Board members expressed some skepticism on that level of savings, but agreed it was worth further research. Hancock Select Board member Kurt Grassett said he saw potential for savings on an administrative level, but believed the towns would need to keep the same number of officers and patrol cars.
Hancock and Bennington have similar population sizes, Cleary said. “Both budgets are pretty similar, I would think,” he said. There would still be a lot of logistics to work through, and ensuring that both communities are satisfied with resulting coverage levels is important, he said.
Bennington currently operates with two full-time officers and five part-timers, Police Chief Bret Sullivan said. He detailed the weekly staffing schedule for Select Board members, in which the full-time officers provide on-call coverage during unstaffed hours and state police coverage is kept to a bare minimum. Hancock’s coverage hours are slightly less, but similar, Bryan said.
There could be additional potential for sharing staff for other town services, Grassett said, citing Hancock’s recurring difficulties finding qualified building inspectors, although he said they are currently satisfied in thar regard.
Hancock representatives asked about the amount of police activity devoted to the Crotched Mountain ski area. For the most part, it’s not really an issue, Sullivan said, although the police occasionally handle calls associated with the Midnight Madness night skiing scene. “Over the last few years, it’s calmed down a lot,” he said.