Michael Reiter is an American security advisor who previously served as chief of police of Palm Beach, Florida, from 2001 to 2009.
[7] During this period, Reiter led the investigation of several cases including the serial jewel burglar Alvara Valdez who was convicted after committing dozens of residential burglaries in Florida with losses in the millions of dollars.
[11][12] Reiter also developed a criminal investigation curriculum for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center located in Georgia.
[19] Reiter requested that Epstein be charged with at least four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor with girls as young as 14 years old.
[20] The Palm Beach County State Attorney, Barry Krischer, according to Reiter initially indicated he was supportive of bringing charges against Epstein.
[21] After turning the evidence over to prosecutors, Reiter was "outraged" to learn that the State Attorney's office offered Epstein a plea agreement.
[24] At a grand jury hearing in July 2006, state prosecutors obtained an indictment of one count of felony solicitation of prostitution.
[3][26] Epstein, under threat of federal prosecution,[27] agreed to plead guilty to the state charge of soliciting an underage girl for prostitution,[3] served a 13-month jail sentence, and was registered as a sex offender.
[29][30] Reiter is also one of the directors of the Palm Beach Civic Association[31] and a member of the Leadership Council of the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, D.C.[32][33] When the Epstein case became common knowledge in the late 2010s, several publications, including Irish Examiner,[34] Sun-Sentinel,[35] The Wall Street Journal,[36] Vanity Fair, described Reiter as one of the few heroes of the Epstein case.
[40] In September 2019, Reiter, along with several of Epstein's victims, was interviewed by Savannah Guthrie on NBC's Dateline on which he advocated for laws preventing minors from being labeled as prostitutes in courts.
[49] In 1996, with the help of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, Reiter rediscovered the first two and, as of 2006, the only PBPD officers to die in the line of duty: Joseph Smith (d. 1923) and John Cash (d. 1926).
[50] In June 1999, he also rediscovered the lost story of a West Palm Beach Police (WPBP) officer, William Morgan Payton, who was killed while on duty.