LIVERMORE FALLS — During the Select Board meeting on Tuesday, July 16, Police Chief Ibrahim “Abe” Haroon informed the board that he received his waiver on July 12, which officially deemed him a full commissioned law enforcement officer in the State of Maine. He now has full power to arrest rather than the 15% power he had before. “So, you better look out,” Haroon joked. 

Haroon said that they are close to opening the lobby of the Police Department, and that he is working with Town Manager Carrie Castonguay to obtain a digital phone system where citizens can call the main phone line and be given a menu to reach dispatch and individual officers, as well as leave voicemails. With this technology, if the phones are ever down, the system would be able to recognize this and send messages to the staff’s cell phones instead, he said. 

Haroon has been busy writing grants for new equipment. He said that they currently don’t have enough badges for all of the staff “by far,” and that each badge can range from $183 to $212. He obtained a grant to cover most of the cost of the new badges they need. They will also receive a grant for 50% of the cost of unit carrier and bullet proof vests which are $880 each and another one to cover the cost of computers for police vehicles, he said. 

The department is also looking into the cost of updating other equipment as well. The cost of internet in the Police Department is currently $290 per month for 25 megabits per second [Mbps] upload and download speed. Haroon is looking into one line coming into the building for $190 a month which would be 1,000 mbps instead. He said this could cover the entire building too, instead of having separate lines and bills between town office and the Police Department, which is the current system.

This new plan, if initiated, would save money and provide higher internet speed, Haroon said. With this new shared line, there is the possibility of the internet slowing down with more use, but he doesn’t foresee it ever slowing to 25 Mbps.