March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Retiring sheriff proud of department’s progress > New sheriff says he’ll maintain quality in face of expected budget cuts in department, will try new OUI sentence

BELFAST and BROOKS — When Stan Knox of Belfast took over as Waldo County Sheriff 20 years ago, his annual budget was $67,331. When he retires Monday at midnight, the combined sheriff and jail budgets will be nearly 10 times that figure and three times the 1971 Waldo County budget.

Despite that increase, Knox speaks with pride of holding the line on expenses during his 20-year tenure as the county’s top cop.

“We’ve maintained an absolutely skeleton department over the years and continue to do so,” Knox said this weekend. “I think I’ve given the county the best department they could afford.”

Knox said inflation, changes in law enforcement and state mandates on the handling of prisoners were largely responsible for the budget increases over the years. He said that when he first assumed office, after serving 20 years with the State Police, the county jail was famous statewide for frequent jail breaks and there were no full-time sheriff deputies patroling the county.

“We built a new jail without going into debt, upgraded the patrol and communications and dispatch system. Most of that was done with grants and by setting money aside every year,” said Knox.

Knox said the old jail was so dingy and poorly equipped that “we only locked up those who really needed to be locked up. It was full of fire hazards and there was one community toilet in the entire building. We had to use buckets or let a person out. Generally, it was a bucket.”

Knox said the new jail completed in 1974 solved the escape problems, except for a memorable one in the mid-1980s when a skinny prisoner managed to force a 10-inch window, grease his body with soap and slither his way to freedom. He was apprehended shortly after making his break.

Knox said problems with the new jail’s electric locking system were so frequent that he finally decided to rip it out and go back to ordinary locks.

“When we first moved in, we had terrible problems with the locking system. Those locks were designed for apartment buildings, not jails. A good kick would break down the lock’s inner workings,” Knox said.

Knox said he had difficulty convincing the county commissioners to raise the money needed to beef up the sheriff’s patrol. He said it was slow going, but the department eventually evolved from part-time deputies to four full-time men, a detective and chief deputy. He suggested that the expanded patrol was one reason that Waldo County’s crime rate was the lowest in the state.

He added, however, that as the population increased, crime kept pace.

“Ever since I’ve been in law enforcement, there has always been a hard core of people who resort to crime,” Knox said. “They’ve always been around, only now I think there are more of them.”

Knox said the fact that the jail was filled to overflowing with men sleeping in day rooms on cots was an indication of the growth in crime.

“We have more than a full house now and I’m sure this will continue on well into 1991 and beyond,” he said.

Knox said that while there were many years when he wanted to ask the county for more money for the jail and patrol, he was reluctant to do so. He said he always kept in mind the fact that Waldo County was one of Maine’s poorest.

“Getting tax dollars from the public is not a pleasant chore, and it’s not a pleasant chore being responsible for the safety of the public and not have the funds to do it properly,” Knox observed. “I found that sometimes these funds were lacking.”

Despite the annual budgetary push and pull and having to respond to Department of Corrections mandates for the jail, Knox said he had no regrets about his career in public service. Although he was looking forward to his retirement and working on his house in Unity, Knox said he wasn’t going to disappear.

“I can’t sit still for too long and John (incoming Sheriff John Ford) has asked me for assistance, so I’ll be around from time to time.”

“I enjoyed working for the county for 20 years. It’s been a real pleasure. I’ve worked with many, many real nice people over the years and I’ve enjoyed all of it. It’s been a very good time.”

John Ford of Brooks doesn’t plan on being a desk jockey when he takes over as Waldo County Sheriff on New Year’s Day.

Ford, who earned a reputation as a tough and tireless lawman during the 20 years he covered the county for the Wardens Service, said this weekend he wasn’t about to change his style of doing things at this stage of the game.

“I think that the people expect it and that’s what I want to do,” Ford said. “I just can’t let things go by and I think I will be expected to be out there. I’ll be making steps and inspecting things right along with the guys.”

Although Ford acknowledged that running a Sheriff’s Department and jail will be a major change for him, he was fortunate to have gotten a detailed look into the job. Unlike some of the state’s other newly elected sheriffs, Ford’s predecessor, Stan Knox, offered a helping hand.

“Stan’s given me a great chance,” Ford said. “I’ve been able to go in there since July, evaluate and see things firsthand. I think the county’s been fortunate to have had Stan for all these years. He’s really looked out for the public’s interest…I’ve been given a chance that most people haven’t.”

Ford said that despite that help, trouble is lurking around the corner. He said state officials have already informed him that “the Waldo County jail has been targeted” by the Department of Corrections and that an inspection will take place in January.

“We used to be one of the newest jails in the state (built in 1974); now we’re one of the oldest,” Ford said. “They’s already told me that several items will need to be addressed in the area of life safety and personnel.

“We’re way understaffed by state standards,” Ford said. “There’s a lot of things that just haven’t been addressed in the budget. We’re going to have to deal with those problems.”

Ford also predicted that as the state cuts back in the number of state police and game wardens covering the county (his former territory was eliminated), the Sheriff’s Department will have to pick up the slack.

“I think the patrol has been neglected for a while because we haven’t had the money to pay for it,” said Ford. “State law enforcement cuts will fall back on the county. We haven’t got the coverage today we had three years ago. Crime is on the increase and is going to continue to increase, with the economy going the way it seems to be going.”

Ford said besides his plans to increase the number of deputies on patrol, he also intended to stress cooperative relationships with local police departments around the county. “That’s something that we’ve got to stress,” he said.

Ford said he also planned to institute a first-offender OUI program that will put first-time drunk drivers into public service projects instead of two days in jail. He said the program would alleviate crowding at the jail as well as help to spruce up county schools and buildings. He said when he ran the proposal by Judge Bernard Staples recently, the judge voiced support.

“I think it will benefit the whole county,” Ford said. “People have to deal with alcohol problems in other ways. I don’t think putting first-time offenders behind bars is the answer. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) had been reluctant to support similar programs in the past, but have come around to them recently.”

Ford predicted that it would probably take two years before he is able to raise the money and find the trained deputies needed to bring the sheriff’s patrol up to the level of proficiency he desired. He said that will require personnel trained in the Criminal Justice Academy, higher salaries and more vehicles.

“The County Commissioners have been fair (with funding), but they may not realize the scope of our difficulties. There’s no way I can get quality people to work for me until we get the pay scale up to where it should be,” he said. “We need to do the same thing at the jail.”

When asked whether he missed the good old days of staking out beaver bogs for deer poachers, Ford said he did for a moment the night before hunting season, but it passed quickly. He said with a grin that a few of the poachers he arrested over the years contributed to his election campaign.

Always outspoken, Ford agreed that in a spotlight job like sheriff, he could ruffle some feathers.

“I’m not going to hold anything back. I’m vocal and I know it’s cost me in the past, but that’s the way I am,” Ford said. “At times they may not like what I say, but that’s the way the ball bounces. I may end up being a one-term sheriff, but what the hell.”


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