Bangor -
The Bangor Police Department is growing.
Seven new officers are now on the force.
They graduated from the Criminal Justice Academy last month after 18-months of intense training.
The department is looking to add 4 more officers, soon, too.
But Sergeant Paul Edwards says even with all new hires, they'll still have 4 or 5 empty spots.
He says so many people who were hired at the same time have also retired at the same time.
"Yes, in fact, it is going to be a struggle and we'll always be hiring bunches of guys like this, gals like this, 7 or 8 at a time. You're going to see many, many new faces on the street."
At full strength the police department has 83 people on staff.
Edwards says they make up for the shortage by having many officers work overtime.
He also says at least 16 people are eligible to retire from the department this year.