Police chief proposes local drug investgator
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — City Council, at their June meeting, approved a request by Police Chief Matt Irwin to permit the police department to back-fill the patrol officer position that will be vacated by the officer selected to fill an MDEA position.
The decision followed a May 31 memo from Irwin explaining his reasons for supporting the plan.
In the memo, Irwin explained the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency has a current opening, which is fully funded by the state.
“I met with the director of the MDEA and he formally proposed to move the position back to Presque Isle. They’d like to do this immediately,” wrote Irwin.
Irwin cited five reasons for supporting the offer: the rise in drug-related cases in the community, having an additional officer available, a more diverse police force, allow more officers to experience something different by cycling through the agency and increased educational opportunities for officers.
“As you know, the drug problem in Presque Isle continues to be a great concern,” said Irwin, noting that in the past decade, MDEA has worked an average of one to seven meth labs a year, but from January through April of this year alone, MDEA has “worked eight meth labs, six of which were in the County, with three of those in Presque Isle.”
He noted bath salts are also a concern in Presque Isle and “will continue to get worse over the next few years.” Irwin added that AMHC has reported a rise in cocaine-related addiction, which is consistent with MDEA trends.”
Irwin advised councilors that the MDEA position “adds another law enforcement officer tasked with the responsibility of direct service to this area of the County and Presque Isle.”
The position would be fully funded by the state in terms of salary and benefits, which are reimbursed to the city.
The chief said the position would add diversity to the police department.
“In a department with little opportunity for career advancement, officers oftentimes look to other larger departments as they acquire experience in order to fulfill their desire for more responsibility. This obviously creates a retention issue for the city and increases costs in training new officers,” said Irwin.
Only officers would be eligible for the position.
“My intention would be to only allow non-supervisory officers to fill this position and those officers would be required to cycle out of the position every three years. This would allow all interested officers to set goals for themselves and attain a certain level of expertise that would otherwise be unavailable to them in our current structure,” said the chief.
Irwin said this also provides the city with an opportunity to increase the department’s ability to effectively deal with drug-related issues since, in time, “officers who have cycled out of MDEA will be back in uniform and able to share their expertise with other officers.”
Educational opportunities were also referenced in the memo.
“There will be additional training and professional development opportunities provided to those officers assigned to MDEA which will have a positive impact on the officer’s development as a Presque Isle police officer,” said Irwin.
City Manager Jim Bennett said if the position “ended up not being funded,” the financial burden to the city would be minimal, resulting in “possible layoff of a junior officer and some unemployment exposure.”
Councilor Dick Engels said he was in favor, citing the number of meth houses, etc., in the city of late.
“The cost would be beneficial. Forfeitures would recapture some of that,” said Engels.
Irwin indicated since he’s been with the PIPD, forfeitures have included nearly $8,000 and a couple of vehicles.
Councilors voted unanimously to approve the chief’s request.
