January 13, 2010
2009 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CITIZENS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY:
As Sheriff of Washington County, I am extremely proud and honored to have completed the third year of my term serving the citizens of this great County.
I am equally as proud of the continued achievements and improvements accomplished by all members of the patrol, corrections and administrative divisions of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
In 2009 the entire country dealt with the declining economy and our agency again faced another year of budget cuts. We accepted that challenge by applying for and being awarded many state and federal grants. These special funds allowed our agency to provide additional effort and services in the following areas: Underage Drinking, Operating Under the Influence, High Visibility, Speed Enforcement and Seat Belt Safety. Also, we were able to receive additional funding to purchase equipment such as computers, radar units and GPS devices.
Shawn Donahue, Scott Francis and John Preston joined our full time patrol division during 2009. Each of these officers came with full academy qualifications and two had several years of experience and numerous specialty certifications providing valuable knowledge and contributions to the overall agency. Being that drug related crimes are still plaguing the residents of our county, we assigned two additional officers, Richard Rolfe and Ralph Pineo to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. The Washington County division is now completely staffed by a total of three assigned officers from our agency.
Chief Deputy Michael St. Louis was chosen by the Maine Sheriff’s Association and awarded Manager of the Year for 2009. This distinguished honor was the first time ever being given an administrator of our agency. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office received a monetary gift for a Safe Driving Award for the previous calendar year. Mary Zidalis received the Deputy of the Year award from the American Legion Post 8 in Cherryfield. Several of our officers received specialty trainings and certifications in the areas of K9 Tracking/Trailing, School Violence Response, Accident Reconstruction and SWAT 1 & 2.
During 2009, our department responded to 4,325 calls for service. Faced with the dwindling financial resources, it is with great pride to announce that according to the 2008 Uniform Crime Reporting statistics, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office received the highest clearance rate of crimes reported and solved by any sheriff’s office for the entire State of Maine. We also conducted numerous arrests for non-compliant sex offenders with our county. This type of commitment to providing outstanding services to our citizens has set a high standard for the rest of the State.
In conclusion, I want to express my sincere appreciation to the citizens of Washington County for their continued support and thank them for allowing me the privilege to serve as the Sheriff of Washington County.
Respectfully Submitted,
Donald G. Smith
Sheriff
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