Police Chief Joseph Roark recently expressed to selectmen that officer retention will become a concern, following another year without an approved contract raise.

The department’s juvenile detective, Michael Marshall, gave his notice to leave the department at the end of the month for an officer position in Lowell, Mass., while citing pay as a reason for leaving, Roark said.

In March, voters defeated a two-year police union contract that would have granted officers 5 percent raises each year to make up for a lack of raises for the two year’s prior as the contract was negotiated.

Marshall, who has worked for the department for three years, according to Roark, has yet to receive a raise as a Pelham officer and was unwilling to take a chance for another year without a raise.

Roark commended Marshall as an employee who actually assisted with securing a grant last year to install digital surveillance throughout the high school while also funding a security audit on all the town’s schools.

“He’s an outstanding officer,” Roark said. “He’s been working for us three years on a rookie’s salary.”

Marshall’s base salary is $39,820, according to the town’s 2007 report.

Roark said Marshall’s resignation indicates that recruitment and retention will likely become a prevalent concern as the department slips back comparatively with what other town’s offer new and veteran officers.

Voters also turned down an option to staff a third officer during the overnight shift, which may be filled at the expense of replacing Marshall in his position as the school resource officer.

“We’re in a default budget and they voted down our third officer on the overnight shift. We’re really struggling,” Roark said. “We’re going to core services and we’re trying our best. Certainly when May and June come, that SRO is gone. I can’t train someone and deploy someone in that position fast enough.”

Roark said he’s currently planning on having voters decide next year whether they’d like to hire a student resource officer.