Law enforcement officials, calling for an additional drug enforcement officer to combat a growing drug problem in the Lakes Region, were recently denied their request for more drug agents by county commissioners.
According to Capt. Bill Rhoads, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office wants to add one of its deputies to a federal task force already operating in the state, but the county commission recently voted to table the issue due to a lack of funds.
Of the three commissioners representing Cumberland County, only Richard Feeney voted for the additional manpower.
However, Bill Whitten, the assistant county manager, said all three commissioners were proponents of adding another officer to the task force, but the timing was wrong.
“I think there’s a need for drug enforcement all the time. It’s an ongoing issue, but you have to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayers. You can’t just add on to the budget… you have to plan for something like this,” he said.
Rhoads said he and other police officials have held workshops on the drug enforcement issue, and found that it would be more efficient to take a full-time deputy from the Sheriff’s office and join him or her with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA.
“Right now, you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. It would be better if we hired someone full-time instead of asking him or her to work overtime” to investigate drug-related crimes, he said.
Captain Don Goulet, one of the lead detectives in the Sheriff’s Office, said the Lakes Region is “wide open” for drug-related criminality and the need for another officer dedicated to drug enforcement in the area is crucial.
“I think it’s a safe bet that drug abuse is going to be with us forever. I don’t see it ending… I would have preferred that the commission place another person in Cumberland County. With all the extra work I’m doing right now, I would like to focus on other important things,” Goulet said.
According to police officials, Maine is a “drug source state,” where, with the exception of marijuana, drugs are manufactured elsewhere and moved into the state.
In conjunction with a federal agency like the DEA, which tends to yield larger forfeitures that can be used to purchase equipment for the Sheriff’s Office, according to Goulet, investigators would have a greater chance of tracking the source of drugs moved into the state.
“The DEA really has a far and wide reach,” Goulet said, who is now working on a budget proposal that includes projected costs for the additional officer.
Goulet said it would cost $57,000 all told, which includes $27,000 for training costs and $3,500 for the additional officer’s workstation.
According to Whitten, the budget planning is underway, and the issue will be put again to the commission in December.
“The commission has made it clear that they want this,” said Whitten.
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