Paris and Norway, ME, hope to consolidate police services starting with a one-year trial period beginning July 2012.
Following the trial, both towns will vote to permanently merge the town departments. Currently, the Norway department has eight full-time officers and three part-timers. The annual budget is $606,000. Paris has six full-time officers and a budget of $504,000. Combined, the two towns have just over 10,000 residents.
Paris is still discussing the possibility of using the Oxford County sheriff’s office to provide police services, which Bethel ME decided to do two years ago. If the Paris and Norway merger were to occur, there would be three officers on duty at all times. Three detectives would also be kept on staff. According to Sunjournal.com, projected savings may only be $10,000 for Norway, but service levels and coverage would improve.