MACHIAS, Maine — The annual report of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department shows an 11 percent increase in service calls during 2011 as compared with the previous year.
“We continue to see the direct correlation between reportable crimes and substance abuse in our county,” Sheriff Donnie Smith said in the report. “While this has placed a strain on the employees of our agency, I am proud of their performance and perseverance.
Smith said his office worked in 2011 to maintain the same level of services to Washington County communities despite a declining economy.
“In achieving this, we have diligently worked in collaborating resources and funding with many other law enforcement agencies,” he said. “The result provided several joint agency operations, including enforcement with underage drinking, OUI, ATV, speed and seat belt laws, along with numerous other enforcement details.”
The report notes that the Baileyville and Milbridge police departments were added to Washington County’s Records Management System in 2011 in an effort to streamline the process of information sharing among the county’s law enforcement agencies.
Through grants from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Northern Border Strategic Initiative, a new police dog named Stryker was acquired in 2011 to enhance narcotics detection and is now being trained. Three other new K-9 units were certified last year in tracking and searching.
“Dedication, professionalism and commitment to our communities continue to lead the employees of this agency,” Smith said in the report. “Along with these key elements our agency continues to receive enormous support and cooperation from the public in combating overall crime and making Washington County the best place to live.”
Ya think it has anything to do with the economy? people are hopeless when they have no money, jobs,or things to do. Donnie keep up the good work and hopefully Lepage can make is a bit easier for some jobs to happen. Not like you guys got the Racino Bangor has. Also Education funds would not hurt. Seems like more drop outs get into trouble with the law.
If you See something, Say something.
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NOT for 911 use.
Oh I will I had a few Times someone tried to sell me tools I thought might be hot. If I see a law enforcement officer doing something wrong I really have to think twice about reporting it. Like is this worth me getting harassed for. Its still the real world not a perfect one. (been warned by a DA. Not to file a complaint against a a state trouper) years ago. They all have friends.
Also sacred honor dont forget to report if you see those jews in hiding –
Only Donnie can put the spin on a report of higher crime,and concluded hes doing a better job……
smoke and mirriors….thats his game
Donnie has done MORE that any other ones as Sherriff , and YES he kept his promise to tell the public what’s going on.
Crime has gone up under Donnie’s watch, and yet he keeps spending time tilting at windmills around the state (ie: MDEA, Glenn Ross, Maine Sheriff’s Assoc.). He has done more, just not more crime prevention.
well, since he’s been in office, we haven’t seen anything such as guns or anything of the sort come up missing now have we. Actually, he was the one that found out there these items went and who took them.
Every comment you make on Donnie, sure makes you sound like you’re jealous of him being sheriff and not you.
It’s only going to get worse once the rats put this place on the MDEA radar. Gotta love the rats.
The people of washington county are sick of the crooked politics in the sheriff department i was a victim a few years back and i caught the crooks red handed told the cops just who it was and where some of the stuff had been sold they did nothing but waste tax payer money we need to start taking care of our own problems a bullet between the eyes solves the problem end of story maybe just maybe then some of these dumb crimminals would wake up and say that could happen to me im not going to steal from him crime would be nothing the sheriff department didnt help the next time they wont be called i will take care of it myself and thats what others need to do
I couldn’t agree more. But on here are relatives or employee on hear trying to hush the mouths of us who really know what the Sheriff and his employees REALLY are. There need to be a retired trooper that is not politically motivated and really to kick butt and take names and get the job done.
the sheriff and his LT are incompetent- saw it first hand. withholding evidence, manipulated reports
Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Tell LePage the state of Maine needs jobs ! Maine was taking off the federal list today for unemployement benefits, which means less weeks folks. Thank good ole Paul for this to, You will be seeing a lot more crime all over Maine.
Damn now someone has got to go look for some more handouts uhh I mean entitlements.
I’m surprised that nobody is pointing out that the obvious link is that the county which is most heavily subsidized by the government at every level has the most crime. When you subsidize poverty you perpetuate it. People wont try to find jobs when the money they might make is equal to what they get for free every month, to go along with what it allows them to work for seasonal cash under the table. Cut the welfare, watch jobs grow, and crime plummets. It’s as much a shame what we do to subsidize native tribes into poverty submission as it is what is done to blacks in inner cities being kept chained to projects. CUT THE WELFARE OFF.
Jobs have to be created in order for people to apply for them and actually get a job. If you cut the welfare off, people will be homeless, thus throwing them into more desperate measures. I’m not saying keep them on welfare, but jobs and job training need to be happening in order to get them off the welfare rolls. Also, the government needs to stop catering to the druggies. By paying for their methodone fix and paying their mileage, they are allowing the druggie to remain a druggie. This is a vicisious circle that will never be broken. There needs to be a crackdown on the doctors prescribing the drugs and the judges need to be putting these non law abidding citizens in jail. There needs to be some sort of counseling going on in jail/prison to get these people to become self sufficient……..this isn’t a cut the welfare program kind of fix….there are many factors that need to be addressed. Unfortunately, there isn’t a one size fits all kind of fix.
The way you refer “to the druggies”, is concerning. Is this a racial slur? Is this a bit of bigotry? Is this just your attitude towards people who need medical attention. Do you have a slur for people who have diabetes or cancer? What are you thinking?
Refering to a person with a drug problem is not a RACIAL slur. RACIAL has to do with the color of ones skin! Look it up….dictionary.com. Most drug addicts are that, by choice. NO ONE holds them down and forces them to take drugs they aren’t supposed to. There are worse names/words to call a drug addict than a druggie. If you’re concerned with what I post, then don’t read it.
OK AgentP, Washington County, larger in area than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. 83% woods, 13% lakes and streams, approximately 33,000 residents. Shouldn’t be too hard to find a job. Umm, except for one problem. There aren’t enough jobs that pay a living wage available in Washington County.
Over 80% of our HS graduates leave the county, only to return for visits. Of the 20% who remain 5% will be lucky to find a decent job that enables them to remain. Sadly the rest are falling into the rut. Too many of them end up becoming frequent flyers at the Washington County Jail.
Virtually every time anything is propsed that might bring more employment to this beautiful county, the NIMBYs come out in droves. If they don’t the other parts of the state get to vote on what Washington County is allowed to have with a resounding ‘NO’ vote.
Is there any wonder why the crime rate, which for the most part is just dumb partying and drug use, is climbing?
Very nicely stated! :)
What a hole Washington County is.
Thank you for not living here.
It all starts from the top down…enough said. Dont wanna upset anyone
Smith declares war on every agency who fights crime but crime is up by 11 percent. At the same time has received $$$ from a defense attorney. HMMM????
He hasn’t declared war on every agency…….he just doesn’t want to work with the MDEA for several reasons…..one of them being corruption. And what $$$ did he receive from a defense attorney?
http://www.mainecampaignfinance.com/Public/entity_financial_transactions.asp?TYPE=CAN&ID=2453
Look for the name in the 2006 report.
For his election fund!!! And so what if a defense lawyer contributed to it?!?! There is nothing illegal about this!
Not illegal….. Unusually close in all aspects! Just food for thought .
Stand corrected on the all agency’s … Sheriff of Penobscot County, the state legislative delegation of Washington County, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency incuding the director , the State Board of Corrections and the current Commissioner of Public Safety and previous Commissionr, Maine sheriffs association(15 out of 16 sheriffs) and Attorney General office. Also several local departments. (corrected not all) He is working with Lubec town selectmen , ooops no he is currently having problems working with them too.
They know crime is up by the number of reported incidents. What money from a defense lawyer? I remember an article being publish about an informant who was told by an MDEA agent to call this defense lawyer to extort money.
olderandmellow seems like the source of all this information is all coming from Smith. He keeps repeating it enough to the press so he believes it will be come fact. It must be that the whole world is corrupt and one attorney with reported ethics violations to the Maine State Bar Assoc. and a Washington County Sheriff with an overwhelming interest in self promotion is the savior of the State of Maine. Is it logical???
How many people have been arrested for drug trafficking in Washington County in the past year? Two years? Ten years?
Not too terribly many! And that’s the fault of the MDEA in Washington County. They are not doing THEIR job. When people do get arrested and they get to court, most of the time the charges are dropped or they get very little jail time……and THAT’S the fault of the judge! All the other counties in this state have an MDEA agency that are doing their job and a judge that is doing THEIR job and putting these people in jail/prison. Just like washingtoncntyboy stated, it starts at the top!
Well MIDDLEMARCH, get your facts straight…..there is NO MDEA Office in Washington County anymore thanks to Donnie Smith. How can MDEA do their job in that County if Donnie Smith won’t let them?
The MDEA office in Washington County hasn’t been dismantled. The state police still work with them. Just because Donnie Smith doesn’t want to work with them anymore, doesn’t mean the agency doesn’t exist in WC. On January 15, 2012, an East Machias man (Arthur Worster) was arrested by MDEA agents from Washington County!
I’m with you except the part about the judges puting people in jail. An example is this; Arrostook Cty Superior Ct.Cases Dec. 1-31, 2011. 13 Drug or Alcohol convictions of which 11 yrs, 1 mo and 17 days of prison was imposed. All but 2yrs. 7mos. and 25 days was suspended. Another example: Lincoln District Ct. Of 16 counts of Alcohol and drug offenses, 16 days of jail time imposed. Point is, the Maine Justice system is broken and the Judges are just part of the problem.
how many of you think that if there were a boatload of new jobs created in WA county, say for example Baileyville ,Calais, Robbinston, Pembroke…the list goes on – that people would actually work? Some will but the majority will still want to do drugs and collect welfare checks… am I right?
One of the requirements of receiving TANF is the person has to volunteer or work a certain amount of hours a week…….if they have a child/children over the age of 5. What some of these people do, is once a child is going to reach the age of 5, they get pregnant again in enough time to still qualify them for welfare. THOSE are the ones that need to get off their duff and be productive….cuz all they are doing is producing future welfare leeches. The government also needs to stop catering to the druggies……are the alcoholics catered to by the government?? Do they try to help the alcoholic get help, wean them off and give them gas mileage to do so??
Yes actually. There was a time when alcoholics were eligible for for SSDI. Addiction specialist have shown that treatment is the answer. Not AA/NA and a disability check.
More crime, what do you expect. The only jobs available in Washington County are selling drugs. The past 10 years Washington County has become drug infested. It is just going to get a lot worse and there is nothing the COPS can do about it unless they lock up every citizen. Until there are good paying jobs in Washington County, which will never happen, the Drug Business will be the only business in Washington County. Maybe it is due time to legalize and tax drugs in Maine so it can get out of debt.
The drug war is responsible for this strain on the department, on the budget. The drug war is responsible for the rise in crime. The drug war has been going on for 40 years with no end in sight and certainly no chance of winning if that is the goal of war. This madness needs to stop. We can’t afford it in so many ways. Peace is the answer, war is not the answer.
There must be a few more jobs in Washington county that we can send to China. Maybe that will help. They are working their fingers to the bone in the other Washington to do just that. The good news is the billionaires are heading towards being trillionaires.
Jobs are needed, as is a desire to work even at a job that isn’t glamorous or high-paying. It took years before we could get enough job security to dare move our family to the area, despite a great desire to be here. Since moving back to the area, I’ve been struck by (1) how few jobs there are, and (2) how unwilling many people have been to take temporary, lower-paying jobs while continuing to look for something else. It isn’t the Washington County that I grew up in, where people would work at anything before they’d take a handout. In a lot of ways, it feels like the county has given up, and that’s so sad. How can we turn it around – without blame or trying for personal glory – and make this county as wonderful as it really can be?