Page 4 - 2019 Annual Report_Classical

Sheriff Kevin J. Joyce

This annual report of the Cumberland County
Sheriff’s Office is just a glimpse of the hard
work performed each and every day by all of our
employees. We take pride in the accomplishments
and professional services provided by the men and
women of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

With an unemployment rate in Maine of less than
4%, we have had to overcome some challenges
of hiring patrol deputies and corrections officers.
We have made some unprecedented changes in
our recruiting and hiring processes, to meet the
challenges. Staff members have been attending
virtually every job fair in the area as well as
working with our Human Resources Department to
streamline our hiring process. We have also worked
with the Maine Criminal Justice Academy to
provide the mandated ALERT Test more frequently
than the one time per month.

For the second year, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office participated in many legislative hearings,
many town hall panel events and numerous meetings regarding the Opioid Epidemic. In September,
the Cumberland County Jail began providing NARCAN to any inmate upon release, so that we can
make sure that there is as much NARCAN in the community as possible. The NARCAN that is being
given away comes from a grant received by the State of Maine and the NARCAN is provided to the
Cumberland County Jail by the City of Portland Health Department. Additionally, in September,
we started the first of two phases of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program at the jail. The
current phase provides those inmates coming into the jail who are on a verified MAT program prior to
arrest will continue on the MAT program while at the jail. Thus allowing the inmate to continue the
MAT program uninterrupted while at the jail.

Lastly, we continue to see our neighbors dying from Opiate overdoses and becoming victims to scams.
We have and will continue to work on prevention programs and educational seminars to inform our
fellow community members on how to seek help for a substance use disorder or how to avoid scam.

As Sheriff, I am proud of the hard work, professionalism and reputation for excellence that the
employees of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office have earned.

Thank you for your continued support of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

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