WINDHAM – Windham’s longtime fire and police chiefs announced their plans Monday to retire.

Charles Hammond, who has served as Windham’s fire and rescue chief for 29 years, will retire at the end of this year. Richard Lewsen, who has served as the town’s police chief since January 1989, will retire in April 2015.

Hammond, who has worked for the fire department for more than 40 years, declined to comment at length on his retirement. When asked why he was retiring, Hammond said, “because I’m retiring.”

“I’ve done this for quite a while, and I’m just retiring,” he added.

Lewsen said that the two chiefs had both announced their retirements on the same day in order to accommodate the town’s fiscal 2015 budget process.

“The issue is we’ve got a fiscal budget coming up and the fiscal year budget of 2015 requires that we’re going to have to add in some more money for a search for the two new chiefs,” Lewsen said on Wednesday. “The budget’s being prepared or issued to the Town Council today, and they’re going to wonder why they need the extra money.”

In a press release, Town Manager Tony Plante commended the outgoing chiefs.

“Both Charlie and Rick should be proud of the work they’ve done, and their legacies of public service,” Plante said. “Their deep knowledge of the community will be hard to replace, but we have time to conduct the search for their successors in a deliberate, thoughtful way.”

Lewsen, who has worked for the Windham Police Department since it formed in 1976, said that he had been in the business “long enough.” During the past few decades, Lewsen said, the department has rapidly modernized.

“We’re using computers now and when we first started out no one imagined we would be able to use computers,” he said. “We have computers in all the patrol cars.”

Over the years, drug abuse has become more of a problem in Windham, Lewsen said.

“There are more drugs – considerably more drugs,” Lewsen said. “Heroin is an incredible issue in Portland, and the use of heroin migrates toward Windham.”

Contemplating his coming retirement, Lewsen said he gets “mixed emotions.”

“We’ve had some good times, and we’ve had some bad times,” he said.

Although Plante will appoint the new chiefs, the Town Council must confirm the appointments. Plante said in the press release that he will consult with the council, the community and department members as he initiates the search process in the coming weeks.

“Their retirements will mark the start of new chapters for the police and fire-rescue departments, a chance to build on what’s been done so far and help guide the town into the future,” Plante said.

Longtime Windham Fire-Rescue Chief Charles Hammond, seen above directing firefighters at a 2012 arson beside Corsetti’s Market in Windham Center, has announced his retirement. Also retiring is police Chief Rick Lewsen.