LUBEC — Details of the events that led to the withdrawal of a Lubec police officer from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy last week are still sketchy, but the chairman of the Board of Selectmen said the academy’s allegations of misconduct might be challenged.
Edward Clark of Lubec was one of six police officers who were removed from the academy last week for what academy Director Maurice Harvey called “inappropriate behavior.” The other officers are from the Fort Kent, Hallowell, Princeton and Portland police departments and the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department. Had the departments not removed their officers from the academy, the officers would have faced action under the academy’s student disciplinary code.
Donald Hampton, chairman of the Lubec selectmen, Police Chief Scott Inman and Town Office Manager Normand Laberge went to the Waterville academy Friday, but, Hampton said, “Everything’s still very vague; we have not been told anything specific. First they said it was `inappropriate behavior,’ now they say it’s `unprofessional conduct.’ Until we know all the facts, until the academy specifies a cause, the situation is this: Officer Clark is still on our payroll, he’s on duty this weekend and we are looking at all the options. There is a mechanism to challenge this. There may be a challenge. If it was cut and dried, we would not have gone to Waterville.”
Although academy officials would not specify the exact nature of the alleged misconduct, Hampton said, “It’s fairly clear that it relates to academic policy, but they never used the word `cheating.’ I asked several direct questions but I could not get direct answers, just slight hints.”
Hampton said the Lubec delegation was shown a copy of the academy’s academic policy, the classrooms, Clark’s last test and his notebooks. “The only thing conclusive from that,” Hampton said, “was that Officer Clark was a good student. He had completed eight of the twelve weeks in good shape.”
After the selectmen gather more information and explore the options available to them, “we will issue a statement and decide what course we will take,” Hampton said. The selectmen meet Monday as the board of assessors, but Hampton said they may not be able to act on the issue at that meeting.
The Portland Police Department initially suspended its officer, but the officer was later reinstated after Portland officials interviewed their officer. “From what our man (Clark) told us, and with two or three of the officers from the other departments saying the same thing, it is possible that we will follow the legal process to question this. If that does happen, I think the towns that back their officers will do it together. I wish I could say right now exactly what we’re going to do, but it needs a vote of the full board, and the board can’t act until we have more information.”
In a related matter, The Associated Press reported that a board of inquiry will decide the fate of six police officers who were asked to leave the Maine Criminal Justice Academy this week for allegedly cheating on exams with crib notes, officials said.
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