The townsfolk of Mexico, Maine expressed their concerns about having no local police department following its closure Tuesday, WGME reported.
The town leaders are hopeful the police department, plagued for a year and a half by a shortage of officers before closing, will eventually return to full operation as they work to hire a new police force, the outlet reported.
The immediate crisis was brought on when three officers with the Mexican police quit, the outlet reported.
“The other three had been working tons and tons of overtime,” Mexico Police Administrator of Records James Theriault told the outlet. “The citizens are concerned, and I don’t blame them,” he added.
“I think it’s wrong,” Wayne McConnel, a town resident, told the outlet. (RELATED: Will The Police Even Answer The Phone?: ‘Defund’ Investigation Finds Austin Citizens In Distress)
Theriault observed that the town and county had “a high crime rate,” WGME reported. The town official was tasked with rebuilding the police department in a year’s time, the outlet noted. In the interim, the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office is now responsible for policing the town, the outlet reported.
“It is very difficult,” Theirault told the outlet about his task. “I think we’ll be able to come out of this okay.”
County officials said the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office is near full staff after hiring three new deputies, the outlet reported. Two of the new hires were from former police officers from Mexico, according to the outlet. The law enforcement is now tasked with covering 2,000 square miles with two dozen deputies, WGME reported.
The town of Mexico is inhabited by 2,700 residents, according to WGME.
The Daily Caller reached out to both the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office and the Town Office of Mexico for comment. Neither office has responded as of yet.