
A Maine sheriff didn’t punish a top officer investigated for targeting employees
Some staff said the lack of action eroded their trust in the Kennebec County sheriff.
Some staff said the lack of action eroded their trust in the Kennebec County sheriff.
A variety of groups are ramping up efforts to open up the multi-billion dollar carbon offset market to small forest landowners.
The series, written by Erin Rhoda, Josh Keefe and Callie Ferguson, exposed holes in the systems of accountability for county law enforcement.
The proposals come after a recent Bangor Daily News series, Lawmen Off Limits, that investigated the failures of Maine’s system of oversight for law enforcement officers.
The complainants argued it is “unreasonable” for electric utilities to disconnect residential customers “until the worst of the pandemic” is over.
The discipline is part of a civil agreement reached last week between Jeremy Judd of Mechanic Falls and the Maine Criminal Justice Academy Board of Trustees.
The standoff ended when a marine patrol officer shot and wounded a gun-wielding man and a woman who was attempting to calm him down from a mental health crisis.
The letter creates more pressure for the board to address allegations that Jenna Mehnert’s “abusive” management style has caused rampant turnover at the agency.
Off and on for about a year, the Bangor Daily News’ Maine Focus team investigated misconduct and discipline at sheriff’s offices across the state.
“I haven’t seen your side of the story anywhere”: Behind the scenes of reporting on how county law enforcement officers escape accountability.
In exchange for his resignation, Franklin County agreed not to tell future employers or state regulators about the guard’s misconduct.
Cases like this one call into question whether Maine’s police overseer has enough authority to penalize officers for misconduct.
The Bangor Daily News asked each county for its discipline records and discovered how incomplete they are, raising questions about what really happened, whether discipline is equitable and whether elected sheriffs are holding their staff accountable.
Amid heightened calls for law enforcement transparency and accountability, sheriff’s offices too often provide little to no information about some of their officers’ worst offenses on the job.
For some of Maine’s county patrol and corrections officers, records of misbehavior will follow them until they retire. For others, their misconduct will be erased from their personnel files in a matter of months.
Holes in the system of oversight for sheriffs allow them to escape accountability in ways few others in positions of power can.
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