Long nights, idle hands in jailhouse

Sorry, ed, but you are just as out of line as the sherrif and the commissioners were. Was this unsatisfactory behavior? Yes. Did it truly rise to the level of behavior deserving termination? No. I know Cpl. Gorham to be a dedicated, conscientious worker. The most that should have happened to him is a suspension, with or without pay, and a demotion. But firing him sent the employees the wrong message, one which they have had to contend with for far too long; the sherrif and commissioners just don't give a damn about them. ReaganRepublican I agree with you on your last statement; the people of Androscoggin County need to reconsider Desjardins as sherrif. It all stops at his desk, no one else's. He bears the utlimate responsibility for this. Desjardins MUST GO!
"The democracy will cease to exist when the government takes from those who would work and gives to those who would not." - Thomas Jefferson.

. .i am lost . Were these prison guards male or female , or both ? More information , please :)

ReaganRepublican:

"Employing the most qualified people available?"

Any chance you get what you pay for here????
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When I was a young Sailor - I drank like a Sailor, fought like a Sailor, and screwed like a Sailor. Now that I am old and wise - I have a few scars, but many fond memories.

The editorial board has made some useful recommendations. But let's not get carried away and lump the entire county public safety division into one mess. Dispatch and the patrol division are largely problem-free. I never have issues with county deputies or county dispatch; I cannot say the same for the local municipality's police departments or the LA 911 center. But the point of the county charter is well-taken. I would suggest that it also include a civilian review board to approve the promotions of personnel within the Sheriff's department, in particular administrative positions. The county commissioners have been hopelessly derelict in this responsibility over the years, rubber stamping recommendations for administrative and supervisory promotions from the Sheriff's office without even a surface review of the candidates who apply. Case in point is the current Chief Deputy Eric Samson, the chief patrol deputy in the division who has never even been to the police academy. Someone in the Sheriff's office thought he was qualified to supervise law enforcement officers with more than a decade of experience and college educations. The county commissioners approved this appointment and thought that was a useful way to spend tax payer money. The internal administration is largely inept as is evidenced by its on going internal problems highlighted by this incident and many others that have never been made public, I am sure. The administration is more concerned with promoting personnel who will protect those secrets rather than make serious changes that will benefit the tax payer. The Sheriff's office has a responsibility to see to it that tax payer money is spent employing the most qualified people available and they don't. Poor supervisors result in poor behavior. But we cannot simply blame the Sheriff. The jail adminstrators also bear some of the responsibility. Oversight is clearly lacking. Is management not up to this task? If they are not, who promoted them? When job performance stoops to this level, clearly there is a problem with the management. This is not the first such public incident regarding bad behavior in the Sheriff's department, in particular the jail. Where is the jail management? Change in the Sheriff's department needs to start with Desjardins, that is true. Perhaps Desjardins needs to take a look at his administration. If he is unwilling to do that, perhaps voters need to reconsider him in the next election.