AUBURN — At the beginning of 2023, things were looking rather grim for the Auburn Police Department as the shortage of officers reached critical levels.

The department was at 75% staffing, Chief Jason Moen said at the time. There were four vacancies. On top of that, nine active police officers were unable to work for various reasons.

In addition, two positions had been frozen for budgetary reasons, bringing the total shortfall at the time to 15 officers — a dire situation for a department with just 55 officers on the full-time force.

Things are better now.

“We are gaining ground on staffing,” Moen said as 2023 came to a close. “We have hired seven officers this year, four of which just graduated from the academy a couple of weeks ago. We have three officers starting on Jan. 2, two of which are going to the January police academy. So as of Jan. 2 we will have two vacancies. We are getting there.”

Lewiston had faced shortages years ago, but by the start of 2023, had been doing better than a lot of area departments. The department’s success at attracting new officers continued throughout 2023 and Chief David St. Pierre means to see it continue through 2024, as well.

By the end of the year, the Lewiston Police Department had 80 sworn officers on the force.

“While 85 is considered to be full complement, two positions have been frozen during the last two budget cycles,” St. Pierre said. “We are continuing with recruitment efforts and always accepting applications. So we strongly encourage trained officers and offer incentives for lateral transfers. Or, if you are eager and want to try something new and rewarding and be a part of our team we’d love to have you apply. I hope to fill our vacancies and perhaps add to our complement, as Lewiston is a growing community.”

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