The Gray Town Council has agreed to include $140,000 in next year’s budget proposal to hire a full-time Cumberland County Sheriff’s deputy to patrol the town.

Following a presentation to the council Monday from the Sheriff’s Office and the Maine State Police, councilors asked Town Manager Deborah Cabana to include in the budget proposal money for a deputy who would be dedicated to Gray 40 hours a week. The funds would pay salary, benefits, and the cost of equipment and a cruiser for the deputy. The town would oversee the deputy and have the ability to adjust the patrol schedule as it sees fit, after consulting with the patrol commander.

The money will be included in the budget proposal residents will vote on this spring at the annual town meeting, as well as at the subsequent budget referendum.

Councilors agreed the budget would likely have to be cut by an equal amount in other places to cover the cost. But, they said, the issue should be put in the budget so residents can decide whether the extra coverage is warranted.

The council had also considered forming a police department in Gray, but they felt it would be too costly and open the town to liability problems. Fire Chief Ricky Plummer looked into creating a regional police force with Raymond, Casco and Naples, but found those communities are not interested because they don’t have enough police calls.

The council made the decision after hearing about the strain placed on law enforcement by the high volume of calls originating from Gray – the largest community in Maine not to have a municipal police force. Through the first six months of 2008, almost half of the service calls handled in Cumberland County by the Maine State Police originated in Gray.

At the same time, state police and sheriff’s officials are struggling to patrol the county’s rural areas with limited resources, and the strain on those agencies hinders law enforcement in Gray, law enforcement officials said.

The state police barracks in Gray dedicates two troopers per shift to cover the nine Cumberland County towns, Lt. Walter Grzyb of the Maine State Police said when the issue first surfaced late last year. That is the same number of troopers as 25 years ago, he added.

Maine State Police Sgt. Mike Edes said his troopers are overworked to the point of exhaustion and burn out, and law enforcement in Gray and elsewhere is suffering because of it.

“We do not do any preventive police work. We do nothing but reactive,” Edes said. “My guys are burned out because of the town of Gray. They have no time for speed enforcement. If you have a theft here in town, I can tell you we are going to come and take a report eventually when we get there. We’ll do minimal investigation because we don’t have the time.”

The Sheriff’s Office provides a deputy to the town of Harrison under the same kind of contract Gray is exploring, Chief Deputy Kevin Joyce said Monday. The deputy works four 10-hour shifts, though he is given the leeway to work with the town manager and patrol commander to adjust the schedule to handle specific problems. When the contract deputy is not working, calls are handled just as they are now in Gray by the nearest deputy or trooper.

Residents at the meeting agreed Gray did not need its own police force, but most said something had to be done.

Jim Monroe said he was swayed by the arguments given by Edes and others, but said the problems experienced by the regional law enforcement agencies could not all be laid at the feet of Gray. The state police are surely understaffed, he said, a problem that originates in Augusta.

A police presence in Gray may be necessary, said resident Wade Trudel. But the council will have to cut the budget in other spots to make room for the increased cost, he said.

“We are not going to be able to fill everyone’s tin cup,” Trudel said.

Councilor Mark Grover agreed. While he agrees personally that Gray should contract with the Sheriff’s Office for one deputy, Grover wants to hear from the public on the matter. In the current economic climate, he said, it is going to be difficult to get residents to approve any kind of budget increase.

“It simply may not be the right year,” Grover said.