Palm Beach Police Chief Mike Reiter Pressed for State Attorney Disqualification in Epstein Case

REITER jrom 1B ney’s office for two reasons. First, he pressed for Epstein to be charged with the more serious crimes of sexual ac- tivity with minors. Second, he slammed State Attorney Bar- ryKrischer in blunt language seldom used by one law- erfforcement official con- cerning another because of what he perceived as that of fice’s mishandling of the case. ‘vIn a letter to Krischer written May 1, Reiter called’ his actions in the Epstein case “highly unusual.” He added, “Imusturge youto... consider if good and suffi- cient reason exists to require your disqualification from the prosecution of these cases.’ In short, Reiter told the county’s top prosecutor for the past 13 years that he ought to get off the case. “It ‘looks like a departure from professionalism,” Miami- Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said of Reiter’s letter. Following Epstein’s in- dictment, Reiter referred the case to the FBI to determine whether the _ super-rich, super-connected defendant had violated any federal laws. Reiter won’t discuss the case or the broadsides aimed at him. But others almost uniformly use one word to describe the chief: profes- sional. “I have always been im- pressed by Mike’s profes- sionalism and his leader- ship,” said Rick Lincoln, chief of the Lantana Police Depart- ment and a Palm Beach County cop for 32 years. “The town of Palm Beach has a very professional police department. We all consider Mike to be our peer and a- man of integrity.” Reiter: Town Manager Peter Elwell says the Palm Beach police chief's well worth his $144,000 sal- ary. Juno Beach Police Chief H.C. Clark II agreed. Al- though he doesn’t know Re- iter well, he has met with him on countywide law enforce- ment issues. “T’ve never seen him lose his cool. I’ve never seen anything but a profes- sional demeanor from him.” Reiter joined the Palm Beach Police Department in 1981, leaving a $20,000-a-year patrol job at the University of Pittsburgh. His personnel jacket shows consistently ex- cellent job evaluations. Posh Palm Beach is no hotbed of crime, and in his first year on the job, a resi- dent confined to his home with a sick child thanked Re- iter for delivering afew Cokes to the house. Reiter refused - payment for the beverages. Another resident thanked Reiter for shutting off his car’s headlights in his drive- way, saying a valet must have been at fault. Reiter worked everything from road patrol to organized crime, vice and narcotics. And he’s no novice at investi- gations involving the island’s rich and famous. He was the © lead detective probing the drug overdose death of David Kennedy in 1984. He also was one of the officers who worked the investigation of William Kennedy Smith, who was charged in 1991 — and later acquitted — with raping a woman at the Kennedy family compound in Palm Beach. Reiter, who has amaster’s degree in human resource , Integrity development from Palm Beach Atlantic University, al- . so has attended the FBI Na- tional Academy in Quantico, Va., and management cours es at Harvard. He’s been ac‘ tive in countywide interagen- cy law enforcement organizations and has a “top secret” national security clearance. “He has a_ perspective that’s broader than just ad- dressing the needs of the town,” said Town Manager Peter Elwell, who promoted Reiter from assistant chief to chief in March 2001. Reiter makes more than $144,000 as the town’s top cop. Elwell thinks he’s worth it. “He’s very businesslike, very straightforward. He's not easily agitated or flam- boyant. He’s about the work, Elwell said. “I think that his service as chief has been outstanding in five-plus years,’ @ larry_keller@pbpost.com HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_018928