FARMINGTON — Selectmen at their meeting on Sept. 10 were shown the recruitment video created for the Police Department and given details about how it was created.

“We came here to get approval to do this,” Chief Kenneth Charles said. “Not long afterwards, Portland invested $300,000 worth of federal grant money to do a similar project. I think what you are going to see shows literally a penny on the $300,000. I think we got just as much and the cool thing is we shopped local to do it.”

Selectmen in June approved $3,000 for Billian Moments of Farmington [operated by Matt Billian] to create a recruiting video for the Police Department.

Charles on Sept. 10 said he has been friends with Matt Billian for almost 20 years. “Matt started as a dispatcher with Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, ultimately ended up leaving as a dispatch supervisor,” he stated. “He has been a part time officer for a few different police departments. He knows public safety, knows the community, what we want to sell. He knows the sort of vibe we were looking for. We want to sell what we have but at the same time we want it to be organic, kind of like “Here we are.” We are not trying to say something that we’re not.”

Charles said Billian did a great job.

“Ken and I started talking probably in the beginning of July,” Billian said. “If you are familiar with any production work, it takes forever, especially the back end of it. Then you add in the Police Department and scheduling.”

Billian said he wanted the video to be diverse, include enough staff and not target one or two people. The video is just over a minute long, he noted.

“It’s a recruitment video, it is shot over five different locations,” Billian said. A shorter, similar video will meet television requirements, he noted.

“I think it accomplished a lot in a short period of time,” Charles said. “One of the ways we will use it of course is social media. Also at Narrow Gauge Cinema to have it play on every screen, every show, every movie.”

The video is quick, with repetition it will be out there for community presence as well as recruiting, Charles noted. He thought it accomplished what it was meant to do, was pleased with it.

That minute goes by quick, a selectman said.

“I think it is great, a necessary idea,” Selectman Dennis O’Neil stated. “I applaud you for doing it.”

Selectman Richard Morton asked if Narrow Gauge Cinema showed the video as a public service announcement.

Charles said he would approach the owners, see what is offered. He thought previous offers had been pretty cheap.

“We do it at the American Legion and it is, it’s super cheap,” Selectman Matthew Smith said.

“Well done,” Selectman Byron Staples stated.

Charles said the video gives a boost to those under him. The department is putting together display tables for job fairs such as one at the Farmington American Legion in October. “I think it will be fantastic,” he noted. “Just doing a lot of things to kind of get different audiences that have been hard to reach.”

“I would think the people that work for you would have a little boost in morale,” Morton said. “That you cared enough to create this image and highlight them.”