Welcome to our two former NYPD officers (“‘Goodbye NYPD, hello Kennebunk,’ say newest police officers,” March 6). It was nice to read their positive comments about relocating to this wonderful area and their recognition of Kennebunk’s longstanding respect and support for all town services. I’m sure I’m not the only one who continually wonders why we always read and hear about how hard it is to attract and maintain police, or for that matter firefighters, in a town such as Kennebunk.

While new on the job, these officers’ comments were quite refreshing, especially when compared to all that hype presented last fall by our police and fire department officials, in particular their unions, when pushing to reduce the retirement qualification years from 25 down to 20 years.

I’m sure many of us can still recall those comments, intended to promote this retirement enhancement and also address the difficulties of hiring and maintaining staff in general: “frustrating,” “[staff] fatigue,” “increased stress outcomes,” “negative health issues,” “low morale,” and so on.

We all realize this is never a simple matter and that we are not privy to insider information, yet being a so-called “first responder” in our town has to be one of the very best outcomes for anyone interested in that type of employment, and in a great work environment.

James Thompson
Kennebunk

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