Gray residents are pushing back against a Town Council proposal to end the town’s contract with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, which currently provides the town with three dedicated deputies.

This comes after the town voted last June to add a third full-time deputy, who started working in Gray in January.

At a Town Council meeting Tuesday, Chair Michael Johnson said the town was paying $1.2 million a year to the sheriff’s department for 24/7 coverage, plus an additional $694,000 for dedicated officers under the current contract. At a total cost of $1.9 million, that contract accounts for 14% of the town’s budget. Johnson compared the arrangement to that of neighboring Standish, which is paying $1.4 million for eight officers.

Johnson framed the end of the current contract as the first step in negotiations with the sheriff’s office for more favorable rates, possibly in conjunction with neighboring towns.

During public comment, resiliency committee Chair Sandy Carder criticized the lack of public input and transparency in the council’s decision. She said the town voted to add the third deputy even with the increased costs, and that losing dedicated patrol officers would have a substantial impact on response times and eliminate the robust level of traffic patrolling currently in place. While she said she understood the need to manage the cost to taxpayers, the public was willing to pay for public safety as part of their tax dollars. A change of this magnitude, she said, should be put to the voters.

Councilor Ann Gass said the council received about 20 emails regarding the contract, with only one in favor of severing it. She acknowledged residents were upset by the proposal, which was first brought up at the previous council meeting on March 31. Gass said the decision was “rammed through,” and ignored the wishes of the voters.

Capt. Kerry Joyce, who serves as the sheriff’s office liaison for the contracts, and sheriff’s office Chief Deputy Brian Pellerin spoke about the history of the contract and how it benefits the town of Gray. Joyce said the town has had a contract with the sheriff’s office since 2018, which provides for two full-time contract deputies, as well as a school resource officer who works with the town when school is not in session. The full-time deputies work from Wednesday to Saturday, during which service calls were statistically more likely, Joyce said, while the third deputy covers Sunday, Monday and Tuesday during the summer.

Resident Ashley Zimmerman also expressed his opposition to the council’s decision, saying the town was in a sense “defunding the police.” Zimmerman said the deputies serve as a financially viable alternative to Gray having its own police force, as well as a deterrent to speeding in a high-traffic area. No longer having the dedicated patrol, he said, would mean fewer deputies at any given time who would be less familiar with the town, as well as less coverage and longer response times.

Resident Lisa Lehne-Gilmore encouraged the town to put the issue of the sheriff’s office contract on a warrant article, and questioned why the town should even bother voting if the Town Council could make significant changes to the budget without the input of residents.