Princeton policeman suspended for 3rd time

PRINCETON — Police Officer David Boone has been suspended for the third time in a month while town officials investigate resident complaints against him, Town Manager Jerry Storey said Thursday.

Boone, training with the Maine National Guard in Bangor, was not available for comment Thursday, but his father, Harry Boone, said he believed town officials were attempting to force his son to resign. Storey denies the allegation.

Storey said Boone was suspended without pay Tuesday night to permit town officials to investigate the complaints against him. The suspension will last through Aug. 28.

According to the town manager, the action Tuesday was the third time the Board of Selectman had voted to suspend Boone since he returned in July from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. Storey said Boone was suspended with pay Aug. 5-6 as the result of an internal matter. He also was suspended with pay Aug. 18-20, pending the outcome of a complaint from a Princeton resident.

At their Aug. 21 meeting the selectmen voted 3-1, with Bert Ward abstaining, to suspend Boone. Selectman Greg Monk was on vacation and did not attend the meeting.

Storey said the complaints against Boone were confidential and he refused to disclose details.

Harry Boone said his son’s problems began earlier this year while he was at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Waterville. While he attended classes at the academy, Boone and five other officers were accused of making “inappropriate notes” in statute books they had been issued. The accused officers initially were told they had been dismissed from the academy.

Boone’s employment was conditional on his successful completion of the academy training course. When it appeared he would be unable to complete his training, he was dismissed by the selectmen.

Later, the accused officers were informed that they merely had been suspended and that an academy board of inquiry would make the final disposition in the matter.

A hearing on the charges was held June 15, but after listening to testimony for several hours, academy officials suspended the hearing and announced that the matter would be resolved informally. The academy ultimately issued letters of reprimand to the officers and allowed them to complete the training course.

During a lengthy executive session July 20, the selectmen again considered the issue of Boone’s employment. When they emerged, they voted to reinstate him. Two weeks later, the current series of suspensions began.