RICHMOND — The Richmond Selectboard accepted “with regret” the resignation of police Officer Doug Bellevue on Monday night.

Word of Bellevue’s resignation got out on the Richmond Friends and Families Facebook page, the unofficial community page, where Zac Kindelan wrote that the Police Department will be “even more understaffed and unavailable when you need them the most,” and alluded to residents’ claims from the past about local police “not being able to do things.”

Other residents chimed in, with some recommending the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office be brought in, while others wrote that the town “doesn’t pay our officers nearly enough.”

Selectboard member Andrew Alexander responded to Kindelan’s post, calling it a “loose claim” that the sitting Selectboard and the Richmond Police Department have “a beef” and that it is “not true.”

“Nobody has said the position is not necessary,” Alexander wrote on the Facebook post. “What has been said is our part-time staff will cover the position. The select board and employees union are currently negotiating a pay package that will be offered to the police department and other union staff.”

He added that with Bellevue leaving, the “current state of the police department is not new.”

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“We have operated with two full-time officers in the past,” Alexander said. “We have part-time coverage for this very reason.”

Town Manager Laurisa Loon said Bellevue served on the Richmond Police Department for 14 years, and despite his resignation from the full-time position, he wishes to remain a reserve officer.

Loon said Monday that Bellevue has accepted a job unrelated to police work.

At Monday night’s meeting, Loon said she waited to post the vacant position until the Selectboard accepted Bellevue’s resignation.

Before Bellevue resigned, the town had two full-time patrol officers and five part-time reserve officers.

Alexander urged those commenting on Facebook to contact members of the Selectboard to “express concern or as means of communicating ideas for positive change.” He also suggested residents watch Selectboard meetings to hear what is being said and decided.

Bellevue said he “nothing to say” on the matter when reached for comment.


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