By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Naples has been promised an extra law enforcement presence in 2020.

This year, the residents at Naples Annual Town Meeting financially backed more law enforcement on the water and around town.

The town’s own Marine Patrol and Marine Safety Department has been beefed up.

However, the employment environment at the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) played a factor in the town not getting more coverage this summer. The CCSO had seven vacancies that remained unfilled for a period of time.

But the tide is turning.

“I met with Sheriff Kevin Joyce last week and I have encouraging news about next spring and summer’s law enforcement coverage,” Naples Town Manager John Hawley told the Naples Board of Selectmen on Monday.

“He tells me that right now the sheriff’s department is almost up to full staff again,” he said. “They have planned to put an officer out here based on the schedule we requested.”

The plan to have a full-time deputy in the town of Naples is for next year, Hawley said.

“He also has a backup plan. If grant funding is approved to we will have the coverage we need. The backup plan is contingent on grants,” he said.

“Either way, he assures us that we will have law enforcement coverage,” Hawley said.

Additionally, Hawley reported that he did some research into hiring constables.

That is a solution brought up by residents at recent meetings.

“Under state statute, constables are subject to the same liability requirements as police officers for neglect or injury. This means that a constable, in order to be sure that we don’t run up against a neglect issue, must be equally-trained as a police officer, be familiar with the laws and be supervised by someone who has the same qualifications,” he said.

“Any constable must be equally-trained as a police officer,” he said.

He said the ideal person would be a police officer trying to pick up an extra job.

However, the issue was finding and funding an equally-trained supervisor.

Chairman Jim Grattelo asked if a neighboring town’s police chief could be contracted as the supervisor of a constable.

Hawley said he could look into it and it sounded doable.