Sheriff rescinds ban on working with MDEA

MACHIAS – Washington County’s top law enforcement official has rescinded his order to his department not to cooperate with Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Sheriff Donnie Smith issued a memo last week to his staff telling them not to participate in any MDEA investigations. The reason, he said, was because he was concerned that a digital video disk circulating in the county that showed an MDEA agent engaged in inappropriate behavior could have an adverse effect on his department.

On Wednesday, Smith talked to Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Anne Jordan, whose department oversees MDEA, and agreed to rescind his order. He said he was satisfied that his department and MDEA would be able to work together moving forward and that such cooperation was in the best interests of Washington County residents.

“I’ve agreed to put everyone back to work together,” Smith said. “That’s the correct way of doing this.”

According to Smith, the DVD shows the officer fooling around for the camera by drinking a beer before getting behind the wheel of a car. It also shows the officer, who Smith did not identify, discharging weapons and involved in an unspecified act of “indecent exposure,” the sheriff said.

In a prepared release, Jordan said Wednesday that she and Deputy Attorney General William Stokes reviewed the DVD on Tuesday and determined there was no criminal activity depicted on the recording. She indicated that the DVD was the same one that MDEA officials reviewed in June 2006, which is approximately when the video was recorded.

The MDEA agent in the video was disciplined at the time and will not face any more disciplinary action, the commissioner said. Though Jordan did not identify the officer by name, she said he came to MDEA from the Pleasant Point Police Department.

“Although the antics on the DVD are juvenile, there is nothing criminal involved,” Jordan wrote. “It is my hope that we can get this issue behind us and continue to work together to combat the significant drug problem in Washington County.”

In a separate phone interview, Jordan said that on Tuesday she met with members of the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. She said she told the committee about what was on the DVD and how the officer was disciplined in 2006.

Jordan said she and Smith have agreed to meet in the near future “to discuss public safety matters that affect Washington County.”

Smith said Wednesday that he recently received a copy of the DVD from an anonymous source in the mail and had not realized others had seen it months ago. Nor did he know initially that MDEA had already disciplined the officer, he said.

In a separate statement, Smith indicated he is looking forward to meeting with Jordan.

“Inappropriate behavior and actions of one or two officers negatively impact all of those providing exemplary service for the community every day,” Smith wrote. “Officers are sworn to serve and protect, and we must hold them accountable to do so.”

Smith also said earlier this week that he had concerns that the DVD was having an effect on drug prosecutions in Washington County.

On Wednesday, Smith further explained his basis for this belief. He said that a defense attorney, whom he did not identify, had told him in front of other people at a Washington County restaurant that the DVD had helped the attorney get a favorable court resolution for a client.

In her statement, however, Jordan said prosecutors do not share Smith’s concern about court cases being influenced by the existence of the DVD.

“I have also checked with the district attorney for Washington County, Michael Povich, who told me he continues to support the work of [MDEA], its agent and its ongoing investigations,” Jordan wrote.

Povich said Wednesday that the DVD never was an issue in any of the cases his staff prosecuted. He said his staff was aware of the DVD in 2006 but did not and still does not have any issues with the officer’s credibility.

“We were never concerned,” Povich said. “He is a good officer.”

btrotter@bangordailynews.net

460-6318