09/13/2024
Being a police officer in the United States has changed greatly over the past decade. Since the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, police officers have come under increased scrutiny and often unfair judgement at the hands of the public, the press and politicians. Police officers are judged instantly and often unfairly in the media, leaving the ranks hesitant and uncertain in their daily work. You do not have to look far in the news to find an officer who has been dragged through the mud after a critical incident, only to find in the end, the officer acted reasonably. This immediate, ill-informed, and uneducated judgement has a devastating effect on the involved officer. Beyond those directly involved, it also leads to poor morale and the feeling of being unsupported that law enforcement is regularly experiencing today. The current struggle to recruit new law enforcement officers clearly bears this out.
The media is flooded with accusations of officers using excessive force with sideline commentators screaming the person only needed mental health help. Herein lies a problem with policing today. There has been a noticeable shift towards society wanting a social work approach to situations that historically may have been resolved with force, arrest, and incarceration. This shift to a kinder, gentler, police force has involved the increased use of de-escalation tactics and connecting individuals with mental health resources. While this shift in law enforcement has been mostly positive, it has come with a downside. One unfortunate by-product is watered downed laws and reduced sentences. Our current bail code is mostly non-existent, with offenders routinely released on accumulated sets of bail conditions after repeated arrests. Bail used to be the privilege of freedom afforded to a suspect awaiting trial. Historically, if one were to violate their bail, they were arrested for violating their conditions of release and held. This seems logical as the offender has clearly demonstrated the repeated inability to follow societal rules. Nowadays, it is common practice for police to encounter individuals on multiple sets of bail conditions. One such example is a suspect charged with a double homicide in Poland, Maine in 2023. This suspect was on numerous sets of bail conditions when the alleged double murder occurred. To date, there has not been a commission assembled to determine why the system utterly failed society and those victims. Certainly, some judge must have abdicated their duties and acted negligently by letting this repeat offender out to (allegedly) kill two people. The fact is, you do not have to look far to find unbelievable hypocrisy and inconsistency when it comes to examining, or failing to examine, the systems we have in place to protect the innocent.
The Independent Commission assembled to examine the facts surrounding the tragic events in Lewiston had a challenging task. A task that certainly would have been made easier had the Commission had an accurate sense of when, why, and how police officers in Maine go about performing welfare checks. It was specifically suggested to the Commission in January, when the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office voluntarily testified, that a current State of Maine law enforcement officer should be asked to participate in the investigative process. A current officer that has recent and relevant experience in performing welfare checks, taking someone into protective custody, utilizing the “yellow flag” process and obtaining a weapons restriction order. The absence of a working police officer left the Commission unable to accurately gauge or evaluate the actions of the Sagadahoc deputies. Without a clear violation of law or policy, a law enforcement officer’s actions should be judged by a body of their peers, or at a minimum, peer representation should be a part of the investigative body. After Deputy Carleton and Sgt. Skolfield’s reports were made public, numerous law enforcement officers from around the state reached out to offer support. Their words independently echoed the sentiment that nothing more could have been done in that moment. For the Commission to say Sgt. Skolfield abdicated his duties is an insult to law enforcement officers across this great state.
Just days following the Lewiston shooting, the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office retained a highly qualified and extremely well-respected individual to conduct an independent review of the agency’s actions involving Robert Card. Atty. Michael Cunniff’s detailed ninety plus page report offered suggestions for the Sheriff’s office moving forward, but ultimately determined that Deputy Carleton’s and Sgt. Skolfield’s actions with respect to Robert Card were reasonable. Reasonable considering the laws, department policies and best practices that existed at that time. Atty. Cunniff examined the situation through the lens of May and September of 2023, not through a post shooting lens. How is it that the Independent Commission came to such a radically different conclusion than the Cunniff Report?
To judge Sgt. Skolfield’s actions through a post shooting retrospective lens is grossly unfair. The Commission had the advantage of having a lot of additional information that was not known to Sgt. Skolfield in September 2023. What seems forgotten during this entire investigative process but was clearly pointed out to the Commission in January, is that initiating the “yellow flag” process requires protective custody first. Without the ability to take someone into protective custody, the “yellow flag” process cannot happen and weapons cannot be confiscated. Sgt. Skolfield did not have the ability to force a face-to-face encounter with Robert Card on September 16 or 17, and had he done so that could have also ended tragically. Again, the news is full of stories of officers allegedly acting aggressively when all the person really needed (in society’s view) was some mental health treatment.
Look no further than a post Lewiston shooting incident in Cumberland County with eerily similar lead up facts. The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office was faced with a situation in which an individual would not answer the door and had not committed a crime. The deputies wanted to take the individual into protective custody so the “yellow flag” law could be implemented, but the person would not come out of their residence. A search warrant was applied for and denied by the judge, because prior to the recent law change, there was no mechanism to handle this situation. After days of around the clock surveillance of the individual, the deputies still had no resolution. The situation was finally resolved when the individual came out voluntarily days later. This was the perfect case study to illuminate the deficiency of the original “yellow flag” law, and it came at a time when law enforcement was on pins and needles after the Lewiston shooting. You will not find an incident in Maine’s history where law enforcement put in the level of effort demonstrated by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office to take someone into protective custody. The law was still insufficient to resolve the situation.
The limitations of the former protective custody and “yellow flag” statutes have now been addressed by the legislature, leading to the recent update to the law. This was a logical and needed change that now allows a police officer to apply to the court for a search warrant to take an individual into protective custody. Is it reasonable to conclude that law makers abdicated their duties when they crafted the original insufficient “yellow flag” statute? Afterall, the former version of the law did not allow Sgt. Skolfield to forcibly invoke the “yellow flag” process. Perhaps a commission should be formed to investigate what could be construed as negligence on the part of the legislature.
Police officers are, by and large, doing their absolute best daily within the parameters of the laws crafted by politicians who are not witnesses to the realities of law enforcement. As difficult as it may be to consider, Robert Card was a US Citizen, an Army Reservist, he had rights against search and seizure, he had not committed a crime in Sagadahoc County, he was not being investigated for a crime committed elsewhere, and he could not be compelled to answer the door of his private home. Protective custody and the implementation of the “yellow flag” process were not options available to Sgt. Skolfield, even if probable cause existed. To say Sgt. Skolfield abdicated his duties in dealing with Robert Card is false and misleading.
Numerous segments of our society share the blame for the circumstances that led to Robert Card committing the unthinkable. Law enforcement agencies statewide have reviewed and updated their policies and procedures to improve future responses to similar situations. Legislation has now been passed to amend the “yellow flag” law to give law enforcement officers the tool that was missing before the Lewiston tragedy. To single out Sgt. Skolfield and lay blame for this event at his feet is inaccurate and unfair, but even more importantly it is extremely shortsighted in what should be an ongoing discussion and multidisciplinary effort to improve our societal approach to mental health.
We, the deputies of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, remain dedicated to serving the citizens and visitors of Sagadahoc County to the best of our ability under the law.
