December 25, 2009
The morning sessions will be from 8:30AM-9:30 AM & 9:30 AM-10:30 AM for inmates whose last name start with A-L. The Afternoon sessions will be held from 12:30 PM-1:30 PM & 1:30 PM-2:30 PM for inmates whose last names start with M-Z. A session at 3:30 PM-4:30 PM will be held for the Protective Custody, They should call on the appropriate day for their last name.
Visitors that will be coming to the morning sessions (A-L) must call on Monday, December 21, 2009 between 12:30 PM -3:30 PM
Visitors that will be coming to the afternoon sessions (M-Z) must call on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 between 12:30 PM and 3:30 PM
Concerning visits on
Saturday, December 27, 2009:
Anyone wanting to visit on December 27, 2009 must call on Thursday, December 24, 2009 between 12:30 PM -3:30 PM because there won't be anyone doing the visit phones on Christmas day.
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On 11-24-09 we created an Open
Cases page. We posted a video of a
burglary in Levant that is being investigated by Detective Canarr. Please visit this page to see if you can help
us identify the individual involved.
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Part-Time Corrections. The
Penobscot County Sheriff's office has immediate openings for part-time
Correction Officers. Must be 21 years old, high school diploma or G.E.D and
meet all criteria listed in application packet. Applicant must be able to
attend five consecutive 40-hour weeks of orientation/training. Part-time pay
rate is $11.00 per hour. Application packets are available 8 to 4, M-F at the
Sheriff's Dept., 85 Hammond St., Bangor, ME 04401 and will be accepted until
3:00 p.m., October 23, 2009. Direct your questions to: Sergeant Richard
Harburger, 947-4585. EOE.
See our add as posted in the Bangor
Daily News. Also visit our Employment
Page to download an application.
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Beginning October 11, 2009 calls for inmate visitation will change to 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. See our Visitation Page for more information.
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The Penobscot County Sheriff's Department will be present for a Senior Appreciation Public Safety Day on October 9th, 2009, 11 AM to 3 PM, in Macy’s parking lot at the Bangor Mall. The Sheriff’s Department will be displaying its multi-jurisdictional response equipment. We will also be conducting Child Iris Scans as well as unused pharmaceutical take backs.
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On July 28, 2009 there was an employee recognition night to recognize outstanding employees of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office for the year 2008-2009. Yearly employees are given an opportunity to vote on their choice for employee awards in various departments and categories. Those scores are tallied and Administration then weighs in on their observations of employee performance during the time period. Below are a list of employees and volunteers chosen.
From Left to Right
Reserve- Richard Harburger
Law Enforcement- Sgt. William Birch
Corrections Officer- C/O Michael Parady
Reserve- Barbara Witherly
SRT Member – John Knappe
Volunteer- Leslie Nesin
Employee- Det. Robert Jordan (not present)
Law not needed for police to get extra training
04/08/2009
The encounter between emergency workers and someone experiencing a mental health crisis can deteriorate into violence.
Sometimes that violence can be fatal.
Last
summer, police killed a suicidal man in
Just
two weeks ago, police killed a mentally ill
Thus, for families with loved ones who suffer from severe mental illness, one of the greatest nightmares is when things get out of control and the police are called.
That's why last year, then-Attorney General Steven Rowe empaneled a task force of law enforcement and community members to examine police responses to such situations.
The state's police academy requires four hours of training as well as refresher courses for dealing with such potentially explosive situations; hundreds of police officers from across the state have completed training on how to best handle those with mental illness.
The
task force concluded in its December 2008 report that law enforcement officers
were given adequate training to respond to people with mental illness, although
they did recommend that the training be beefed up. They determined that law
enforcement officers in the middle of an incident should be given more
information than current laws allow health professionals to share. And they
said that more beds should be made available at
Despite the task force's conclusion, and despite the training already in place, incidents happen. And when they do, they're tragic.
Which is why, we suppose, lawmakers have this session proposed legislation to provide more training for police officers and first responders and to establish a task force to examine the Rowe task force's report.
There's also a bill to implement the task force's recommendations. Some of the bills were put in at the request of the families of those with mental illness; others were proposed by lawmakers dissatisfied with the conclusions of the task force. It's a human instinct to try to help when there's a problem or grieving families come to you for assistance.
We can see the rationale behind a very narrow and specific law that mandates that mental health professionals must abandon confidentiality restrictions in an emergency so police can have the information they need. And beefed up training for police and emergency workers is a good idea, although it may not need a law to make it happen.
What we don't see is a compelling reason to rewrite state law to deal with those emergencies that involve the mentally ill.
Instead, what we need to do is prevent as many people as possible from ever being in that situation. Effective and accessible mental health programs are really the first line of defense against such potential tragedies; programs that help with individuals before they are a danger to themselves or others will ensure that fewer tragedies happen.
But in the end -- and this is the horrible and unspeakable truth -- deaths still will occur and there's little anyone in the Statehouse can do to prevent that.
Our laws can do much -- but they will rarely, if ever, reach into the darkest and most destructive depths of the human psyche.
Editorials represent the opinion of the Editorial Board of this newspaper: Publisher John Christie, Executive Editor Eric Conrad and Opinion Page Editor Naomi Schalit.
Click to View: Report to the Court Monitor regarding the Maine Mental Health System -2009
2/18/09
Click Here to download the: Maine Corrections Pharmacy Focus Group Report
Interim Report to the Joint Standing
Committees for Appropriations, Financial Affairs and Health and Human Services
Dated: January 15, 2009
2/17/09
Click Here to view the: Final Report of the Corrections Alternatives Advisory Committee
1/1/09
Happy New Year
Please drive carefully and always wear your
seat belt.
You can confidentially report any
crime by calling:
1-800-696-5403
or E-Mailing the Sheriff's
Office
For an Emergency Please Dial 911