[0:24] Mic check. Mic check.

[0:44] Hello. Welcome to our uh Tuesday evening

[0:48] special council meeting on youth gun

[0:49] violence. We're going to kick things off

[0:51] as we always do with the pledge of

[0:52] allegiance. And uh we are grateful to

[0:55] have uh Lieutenant St. Laurent here who

[0:57] will lead us in the pledge.

[1:15] and justice for all.

[1:22] » Thank you very much, Lieutenant. I

[1:23] appreciate it. Uh, okay. Thank you all

[1:26] for coming. Uh, here's a quick rundown

[1:29] and then we'll get started. So, we are

[1:31] going to hear from, uh, presenters. They

[1:33] are Lewon Police Chief uh Carly Connley,

[1:36] Andrew Scoggin County District Attorney

[1:38] Neil Mlan, Lewon High School

[1:40] Superintendent Jake Langless, New

[1:42] Beginnings Executive Director Chris

[1:44] Bicknell, Duncan Pierre, and Christine

[1:47] Thibo from uh the Department of

[1:49] Corrections. So, we will hear from each

[1:51] uh presenter. the chief, as you can see,

[1:53] uh will go first and then the council

[1:56] will have time for questions. Uh and

[1:58] then we will uh work through the

[2:00] presenters and then uh I'll give uh some

[2:03] time for the council to to weigh in with

[2:05] their with their thoughts and then we

[2:07] will head to uh public comment in an

[2:09] orderly fashion. If we can keep uh

[2:12] chatter in the in the hall to a minimum,

[2:14] if you need to talk, please text

[2:16] yourselves or uh or head out to the

[2:18] lobby. And this is also being broadcast

[2:20] online. Uh if you miss any part of it,

[2:22] uh you'll be able to watch it later. Uh

[2:25] thank you all and uh Chief, off to you.

[2:31] » Thank you for having me. Uh I I want to

[2:33] just start by saying thank you to

[2:35] everybody for uh taking the time to come

[2:37] out here this evening and and talk about

[2:39] this and and hear about this. It's it's

[2:40] a pretty pretty important topic. Um so

[2:43] again, I want to say thank you for

[2:45] taking the time out of out of your

[2:47] summer evening to come hear about this.

[2:50] Um, so basically what I'm going to do is

[2:52] I'm I'm just going to speak a little

[2:54] bit. I have I have a uh slideshow and

[2:56] I'm just going to go over some of the

[2:58] issues that we're seeing um what I would

[3:00] call, you know, the boots on the ground

[3:03] level um as far as what law enforcement

[3:05] is seeing. Um

[3:12] so the first slide you're you're going

[3:15] to see here is um just our shooting

[3:18] statistics. Um, we've had in 2026, we've

[3:21] had 19 shootings. And in this slide,

[3:25] what we're looking to just show you is

[3:27] sort of the comparison. Um, as far as

[3:29] last year, it's actually the same as

[3:31] last year. Um, we break it down by

[3:34] month, and you can see that, um, in

[3:37] April of this year, we really had a a

[3:41] quite a bit of an increase in our

[3:43] shootings.

[3:49] This next slide talks about um the adult

[3:53] versus juvenile involvement in our

[3:55] shootings. Um I I think we've been

[3:57] pretty open about that. Um we've really seen a quite quite a rise in

[4:03] shootings um involving juveniles. So in

[4:06] 2026, we have had seven shootings that

[4:09] have involved adults. Um and then we've

[4:12] had 12 that have involved juveniles.

[4:19] some of the 2026 shooting statistics for

[4:22] the PD. So, this is this is what we look

[4:24] at when we're looking at um what

[4:26] shootings were solving, our clearance

[4:28] rates um along with uh gun seizures uh

[4:32] at the police department. So thus far in

[4:36] 2026 uh we have solved 13 of the 19

[4:40] shootings which equates to 68%.

[4:43] Um and one thing of note for that

[4:47] one thing for note of that that I I

[4:49] would I would touch on is that the

[4:51] national average clearance rate for

[4:54] shootings uh is 31%.

[4:57] Uh

[4:57] >> we need to put in a full mode instead of

[4:59] the slides instead of no. Hold on one

[5:03] sec.

[5:08] I'll do the

[5:11] » one that's

[5:12] >> we're trying to help here.

[5:13] >> Okay. Thank you.

[5:14] >> Full mode. Sorry, I'm leaving.

[5:17] >> Yep.

[5:25] >> Give us one second, please.

[6:51] Did we just stay on the screen that we

[6:53] were on?

[6:54] >> The display settings are at the bottom

[6:56] of the

[7:03] or they're at the top there. Yeah, it's

[7:07] different on our screens because we're

[7:09] streaming this week. So,

[7:10] >> there we go.

[7:12] >> Thank you.

[7:13] >> We made We made it. Thank you. Chief,

[7:16] please continue.

[7:16] >> Right. We'll start again. [gasps]

[7:21] » All right. So, um the slide we left off

[7:25] on was uh the shooting clearances and

[7:27] gun seizures at the police department.

[7:29] As I mentioned, um for 2026, we've

[7:32] solved or cleared uh 68% of our

[7:35] shootings. Um, obviously we'd like to

[7:37] solve all of them. That that's our goal.

[7:39] Um, but, uh, as I mentioned, we're, you

[7:42] know, double more than double the the

[7:44] national average in that in that regard.

[7:46] So, we've been very fortunate. Our staff

[7:47] has done a great job at at really

[7:49] investigating these and trying to bring

[7:51] them to closure. Um, out of those

[7:54] shootings, we've had eight adult arrests

[7:57] and 19. So, you're looking at more than

[8:00] double um, juvenile arrests.

[8:03] In 2026, the Lewis Police Department has

[8:06] seized uh 44 guns. 41 of those handguns

[8:10] and then three rifles and shotguns. And

[8:12] the one thing I'll mention about that is

[8:14] when we talk about gun seizures, those

[8:16] are actual criminal cases where we seize

[8:19] guns. Um not not guns that we, you know,

[8:23] have because of protection from abuse

[8:25] orders or yellow flags or things like

[8:27] that. These are true uh criminal cases.

[8:32] So as I mentioned, as you saw in the

[8:35] slide, uh you know, the true increase uh

[8:38] that we noticed was uh in April, right,

[8:41] for shootings, we had nine shootings in

[8:43] April. Um so as a result, uh we respond

[8:47] our response to that um was to one of

[8:50] the things we did is we increased foot

[8:52] patrols in the city. um in the month of

[8:54] May and June alone, we did more than 50

[8:59] foot patrols in the city of Lewon. Um

[9:02] reallocated our patrol and specialized

[9:04] units. So we have a community resource

[9:07] team. We have a crime reduction unit. Um

[9:10] so so we moved that around. We moved um

[9:12] some of the you know detectives

[9:14] divisions around and really focused on

[9:15] specific areas, specific times of day,

[9:18] things like that. Um also worked with

[9:20] our federal partners that are in the

[9:22] building. We've conducted saturation

[9:24] details in the city. Um and then the

[9:27] results of of that in May and June, um

[9:31] we had 28 arrests, 21 juveniles, seven

[9:35] adults. We seized 11 guns and five of

[9:38] those were found to be stolen. And the

[9:40] thing that I'll just point out here in

[9:41] regards to the juveniles, uh five repeat

[9:45] offenders in just just one month's time

[9:47] frame.

[9:51] some of the resources and investigative

[9:53] tools that that we use and that we work

[9:55] with as an agency. And obviously this

[9:57] doesn't encompass all of them, but um

[10:00] you know, one of one of the things that

[10:01] we have at at our agency that we're the

[10:03] only police department in the state that

[10:05] has uh basically every federal partner

[10:08] in our building. Um so a lot of police

[10:12] departments in around the state have

[10:13] what they call task force officers. So

[10:16] they assign those officers, patrol

[10:18] officers or detectives um to work with

[10:21] federal partners. So it could be DEA,

[10:24] ATF, Homeland Security. Uh we do the

[10:27] same. FBI is another one, but every one

[10:30] of those individuals has an office space

[10:32] at RPD. So that's a huge resource to us

[10:35] because it makes a diff it's the

[10:36] difference between walking down the hall

[10:38] and knocking on someone's door and

[10:39] saying we have a case that we think

[10:42] might be a good federal case versus

[10:44] calling them in Portland and trying to

[10:46] coordinate that way. Um the other thing

[10:50] that that we we have been very fortunate

[10:52] um to have is our flock system. Um our

[10:56] automatic license plate reader. uh this

[10:59] year alone since we've had it, it's

[11:00] assisted in solving six shootings and

[11:03] recovered three guns. And that's just

[11:05] the shootings and guns. It's it's been

[11:07] involved in in helping us with

[11:09] kidnappings, domestic violence, uh you

[11:11] name it. It's been a huge resource.

[11:14] And then one of the other things, we

[11:16] don't have this yet, but we're we're

[11:17] pretty excited about getting it. Uh we

[11:19] received this uh this was budgeted and

[11:22] it's called the Skyio first responder

[11:24] drone. Um, so we should be getting that

[11:27] within the next few months. And what

[11:30] this drone does is it has the ability to

[11:33] connect to our dispatch system. So we

[11:36] can set it up. So for example, if we say

[11:39] we want this thing to respond to

[11:40] shootings, we want this thing to respond

[11:42] to assaults in progress, whatever we

[11:44] decide we want it to respond to

[11:46] automatically, it's GPS coordinated.

[11:49] when dispatch gets that call, that drone

[11:52] responds from our station is on scene

[11:54] before an officer can get there. Um, so

[11:56] that's that's a huge resource to us. It

[11:59] also we you can set it to patrol problem

[12:01] areas. So if we're having an issue, for

[12:04] example, I can think of one area uh Park

[12:06] Street recently has been an issue for

[12:08] us. Uh, we can we can set that drone to set up in that area at a certain time

[12:14] of day and it'll just patrol that area.

[12:16] It's it it's it's eyes. It's a for us

[12:18] it's a huge force multiplier. We're 11

[12:21] officers down. Um so we do the best that

[12:23] we can with with the staff that we do,

[12:25] but this will be a huge resource for us.

[12:29] Um

[12:31] community engagement, connections,

[12:33] resource sharing. We have a community

[12:35] resource team and I and I use the word

[12:37] team lightly. Um as I just mentioned,

[12:41] you know, we're down 11 officers and we

[12:43] actually have one out injured. So we're

[12:44] down 12 officers. um we have one

[12:48] supervisor and one officer that is

[12:50] assigned to that unit. Uh historically

[12:52] we had three officers and a supervisor.

[12:54] So we're hopeful that we can get some

[12:57] men and women to come work for the

[12:58] police department and and get that that position or that that that unit as

[13:03] a team um shortly. Uh but they they do a

[13:06] lot of work with the little personnel

[13:09] that they have in there. And this is

[13:11] obviously this is just a few things um

[13:14] that that I wanted to highlight that

[13:16] they do. Um one of the things that we're

[13:19] working on this year with the community

[13:20] resource team is called uh Beyond the

[13:23] Badge event and we're we're hopeful um

[13:26] that this is going to be an annual

[13:28] event. They've worked on this. It's

[13:29] going to be July 23rd in Smart Pain

[13:32] Park. Um and it's really it's going to

[13:35] involve first responders. We're going to

[13:37] have the police department there. We're

[13:39] going to have UAS there. We're going to

[13:40] have the fire department there. We're

[13:41] going to have Lifellight there. Um, and

[13:44] it it's really just an event with with a

[13:46] bunch of activities uh for the

[13:48] community. And and like I said, we're

[13:49] hoping that this is a great engagement

[13:51] tool and and really sort of uh just the

[13:54] foundation for for something that we can

[13:56] continue to do on a yearly basis.

[13:58] Um, one of the other things that

[14:01] we've done this year, uh, and I hate to

[14:03] keep saying it, but you know, we're down

[14:05] a lot of officers. So the challenge for

[14:07] us when we're down a lot of officers is

[14:09] um the officers are overworked

[14:11] sometimes. They're working overtime.

[14:13] We're not able to fill all of our

[14:14] special assignments to their their you

[14:17] know normal fulfillment. Um so we wanted

[14:20] to come up with something where we were

[14:23] still serving the community as much as

[14:24] we can in the capacity that we're able

[14:26] to. So we created a program this year

[14:29] that that is set to to kick off in uh

[14:32] July. Um, and it it's a community

[14:35] policing program for officers. So,

[14:37] they're going to be given a certain

[14:39] amount of time where they can choose

[14:43] events or activities. Um, some of those

[14:46] will be coordinated by the community

[14:48] resource team. So, they can be examples

[14:51] would be, you know, out on we'd like you

[14:53] to go out on bike patrol, you know, in

[14:55] the downtown streets or on Lisbon Street

[14:57] for these two hours. We'd like you to

[14:59] play basketball at Kennedy Park. we'd

[15:01] like they're going to come up with some specific events that the officers

[15:05] will be able to participate in and then

[15:07] the officers will also have the

[15:09] opportunity to create their own events.

[15:12] So, and when I say that is we have

[15:14] officers with a variety of skill sets.

[15:16] We al have officers that coach soccer,

[15:19] we have officers that coach baseball,

[15:20] basketball, that that like music. Um so,

[15:23] we're going to give them the opportunity

[15:25] to sort of make that community policing

[15:27] their own and meet with the community in

[15:29] that capacity.

[15:31] Um, some of the other things that the

[15:33] community resource team does is they

[15:36] work with the LA child and family

[15:37] well-being collaborative. These are

[15:39] meetings with many of the community

[15:40] programs to discuss resources or arrange

[15:43] education or outreach. They work with

[15:45] the CDC office of injury and violence

[15:47] prevention.

[15:49] Uh, main gun safety coalition and

[15:51] project child safe. And then again it

[15:54] this outreach, education and resource

[15:56] sharing it it touches a lot of things

[15:58] but I want to just highlight a few.

[16:03] So one of the things that we looked at the police department or we have been

[16:07] looking at um when it comes to the

[16:10] violence. So obviously the first step we

[16:12] see that we have we have an increase in

[16:14] shootings. Then we've broken it down.

[16:16] We've determined okay we have an

[16:17] increase in shootings and it seems to be

[16:19] specific to juveniles. Um, so one of the

[16:23] things we look at is what are the

[16:25] obstacles and and really what the

[16:27] obstacles are for that we're seeing is

[16:30] juvenile repeat offenders,

[16:32] [clears throat] lack of accountability

[16:33] in the juvenile system, challenges with

[16:36] detaining and committing juveniles, a

[16:38] large increase in non-competent

[16:40] designations based on age, trauma,

[16:43] things along those lines, and then lack

[16:46] of mandates. Youth intervention, sorry,

[16:49] I can't read this whole thing here.

[16:50] youth intervention services for youth

[16:52] involved in the system and or found to

[16:54] be non-competent and resources for

[16:56] family assistance.

[17:01] So as an agency uh what our response to

[17:05] these obstacles have been um obviously

[17:09] we have the initial response right like

[17:11] our primarily our primary primarily goal

[17:15] for a police department is enforcement

[17:17] it's to protect and serve but the

[17:20] reality is is that

[17:22] we want to solve the bigger issue right

[17:25] because really what we're seeing is

[17:27] we're sort of putting band-aids on a

[17:29] bigger on a bigger issue. Um, so we've

[17:32] really we've really in the past couple

[17:34] months had I hate to say it, but a ton

[17:37] of meetings with people with the other

[17:38] stakeholders, right, that have an

[17:40] investment in the system because this

[17:42] really is a system issue. It it's so

[17:45] layered. Um, so so some of the things

[17:47] we've done is we've had coordination

[17:49] meetings with the DA's office and the

[17:50] JCCOs's. We had a briefing with uh

[17:53] Senator Susan Collins. We then had a

[17:55] coordination meeting with the US

[17:57] attorney, Andrew Benson, along with

[17:59] district attorney McClean. Uh we had a

[18:02] briefing with uh one of the main

[18:04] senators, Bruce Bickford and his staff.

[18:06] We had a meeting with new beginnings

[18:08] director Chris Bicknull. Um and then we

[18:10] have meetings scheduled with additional

[18:12] members of the main senate and other law

[18:14] enforcement stakeholders. Uh and then

[18:16] some of the other things that we've done

[18:17] is we've we've attended every community

[18:19] listening session that's involved gun

[18:22] violence and and wanted to hear from the

[18:24] community and other stakeholders. Um one

[18:26] of those was put on by the main wire um

[18:28] at Calvary Church and then we just

[18:30] attended another one uh last week at

[18:33] Gather to Grow that was put on by Mir

[18:35] and um COA.

[18:39] So, one of the things that we just

[18:42] wanted I wanted to bring up is is some

[18:44] of the uh common misconceptions. And I

[18:47] and when I say common misconceptions,

[18:49] these are just things that sometimes we

[18:50] hear from the public and sometimes we

[18:52] hear, you know, why can't you do this?

[18:54] Why? So, one of two of the big things is the city ordinance thing. And and

[18:59] what we have is we have a curfew and

[19:01] that's a city ordinance violation. Um,

[19:04] and I think it can be a common misnomer

[19:07] that the city can create ordinances that

[19:10] help enforce. And while they do, they

[19:13] still don't trump state statute, right?

[19:17] So, a city ordinance is a great tool for

[19:19] our officers in all honesty. Um, it it's

[19:22] it gives us the ability to stop and talk

[19:25] to kids who are out late at night past

[19:27] curfew, but the reality is there's not a

[19:30] lot of teeth long term behind that,

[19:32] right? So what happens is they get a summon for the curfew

[19:36] violation. They go back home to mom and

[19:37] dad and there ends up being a $30 fine.

[19:40] So an ordinance really can be associated

[19:42] with a fine. It's not associated with

[19:44] any sort of um detainment or anything

[19:47] along those lines. And then the other

[19:49] thing that we hear a lot is criminally

[19:51] charging parents. That parents should be

[19:54] able to be criminally charged. And the

[19:56] reality is is we can only charge people

[19:58] for statutes and laws that exist on the

[20:01] books. Right? So, I cannot deal with a

[20:04] juvenile that commits an assault and

[20:06] then charges parent because the juvenile

[20:08] committed the assault. The reality is we

[20:10] just don't have the authority to do

[20:11] that.

[20:15] Um, some of the community

[20:16] recommendations that we have, um, the

[20:19] big one is see something, say something.

[20:21] Uh, you know, we rely heavily on

[20:25] technology today. Um but the reality is still the best type of uh we we can't

[20:33] be everywhere, right? So we need the

[20:35] support of the community. When you see

[20:37] something suspicious, when you see

[20:39] something that doesn't look right, call

[20:41] us um so that we can we can look into

[20:43] it. I mean, we had I can give an example

[20:45] of three or four weeks ago where

[20:47] somebody called and said this there's

[20:50] three juveniles hanging around. One

[20:52] displayed a gun. They provided a

[20:55] description. They didn't need to give

[20:56] their name. They didn't we didn't need

[20:58] to talk to them. They gave a great

[20:59] details. The officer went to that area,

[21:01] found the juvenile, got the gun, it was

[21:03] stolen, recovered. Um, so we that's

[21:06] important to us for commu the community

[21:08] to to report things. And I think one of

[21:11] the big things people get concerned

[21:12] about is um

[21:15] not not wanting to to, you know, wanting

[21:17] to be anonymous. And there's there's

[21:19] three different ways that you can do

[21:20] that. We have you have the ability to

[21:22] call dispatch. you can call dispatch or

[21:24] 911 and say, "I don't want my name. I

[21:27] don't don't tell them who my who I am."

[21:29] And they won't. Um, and just give them

[21:31] the information and they'll dispatch an

[21:32] officer to that location and just try to

[21:34] provide them as much detail as you can

[21:35] about that. Um, and then there's a

[21:38] reporter tip online that we have and

[21:40] there's also a anonymous tip line that

[21:42] we check on a regular basis that you can

[21:44] call the police department at and all of

[21:46] these are on our website. Um, and then

[21:50] one of the other things is I would say

[21:51] is, uh, parents are authorized to search

[21:53] their kids' rooms. Parents are

[21:55] authorized to be parents. They're in

[21:57] control of their family and their

[21:58] household. And you need to know where

[22:00] your kids are, know what they're

[22:01] involved in, and if you think

[22:02] something's up, something's probably up.

[22:05] So, they have the authority to to check

[22:08] their kids' rooms, search their kids'

[22:09] rooms, and if they find something that

[22:11] shouldn't be in their kids' rooms,

[22:13] they're always welcome to call us and we will deal with it.

[22:17] Um, and then the other big thing is

[22:20] secure your firearms. Um, you know,

[22:23] people talk about where where the guns

[22:26] come from, right? But the reality is is Maine is a gun-friendly state.

[22:31] It's a source state. So, a lot of people

[22:33] legally own guns. And there's nothing

[22:35] wrong with that. But what we see a lot

[22:38] is guns being stolen from cars that

[22:40] aren't secured. like that is very

[22:43] important to us to if you're going to

[22:44] own a firearm securely um keep that

[22:47] secure

[22:52] solutions and I know we don't have them

[22:54] all um but really what we found um in in

[22:59] what we've and we're certainly not the

[23:01] experts on every level. I think you you

[23:03] all are going to hear from some experts

[23:05] in on levels that that we don't operate

[23:08] in on a daily basis here tonight and I'm glad they're here. Um but I think

[23:13] this really comes down to legislation

[23:15] and policy. Uh I believe the state of

[23:17] Maine is in need of policy and

[23:19] legislative change that will increase

[23:21] accountability mandates for youth who

[23:23] are involved in violent criminal

[23:25] offenses.

[23:26] And I think that youth invent

[23:28] intervention services that's that's a

[23:31] piece of this too. We need effective and

[23:33] sufficiently funded youth intervention

[23:35] services to exist and be available as

[23:38] resources to the juvenile criminal

[23:40] justice system as mandates that youth

[23:43] involved in violent criminal behavior

[23:44] are required to participate in.

[23:49] » That's all I have.

[23:52] >> Thank you very much, Chief.

[23:56] if we can hold our our applause. Thank

[23:59] you. Uh thank you very much, Chief.

[24:01] Appreciate you being here. Appreciate uh

[24:02] many members of the department here and

[24:04] your entire department service to our

[24:05] city. Thank you. Uh we will take

[24:08] questions from the council and we're

[24:09] just going to go down the line starting

[24:11] with uh uh councelor from num uh from

[24:14] ward one. Councelor Martell, do you have

[24:15] anything?

[24:18] » W

[24:21] seven.

[24:21] >> Thank you. Thank you. Well, we will

[24:23] still start with seven and we we're

[24:24] going to flip that. Councelor from W 7.

[24:27] Um, councelor Martell, do you have

[24:28] anything?

[24:31] Thank you. Uh, councelor from W 6.

[24:34] >> Go ahead.

[24:36] >> Councelor Martell said not at this time.

[24:38] >> Right.

[24:39] >> Thank you, sir. Um, I had originally

[24:42] mailed questions, email questions to all

[24:44] of the presenters, but the one that I

[24:45] want to ask Chief Connley, do you have

[24:47] any sense as to what makes Lewon the

[24:51] attractive location for this kind of

[24:53] behavior? We don't see this in many

[24:54] other communities in Maine, and yet you

[24:57] allude to Maine being a gun-friendly

[24:59] state, which it is. Why is this

[25:01] happening in Lewon? Why have they chosen

[25:04] us to bless with this kind of behavior?

[25:07] Thank you.

[25:09] I honestly don't have the answer to

[25:11] that.

[25:14] » If I could, Mr. Mayor, if anyone in this

[25:16] room has the answer to that, that to me

[25:19] seems like one massive step towards

[25:21] solving this problem if we can figure

[25:23] out what is encouraging this behavior

[25:27] and stop that encouragement. Uh there

[25:29] are a lot of different pieces to that,

[25:30] but that seems to me to be key. Thank

[25:33] you.

[25:35] Uh, Councelor Noble,

[25:38] >> she already answered my question. It was

[25:40] about foot patrols. Thank you.

[25:42] [laughter] Yeah, no problem.

[25:43] >> Sounds good. Thank you. Uh, Councelor

[25:45] Roy, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, Chief

[25:48] Connley, thank you for that. Um, couple

[25:50] of questions that I came up with uh

[25:52] during your presentation. Um, and I

[25:55] think I know the answer to this one, but

[25:56] I want to put it out there for

[25:57] everybody. Can a city go above and

[25:59] beyond what the state has on the books

[26:02] for laws as far as charging juveniles?

[26:04] Can can the city as a body come up with

[26:08] maybe some laws to hold

[26:13] that's the the the path we want to go.

[26:16] So they can come up with ordinances, but

[26:18] they they'll never be more restrictive

[26:20] necessarily or or punitive, I guess, is

[26:22] the word I would I I would say than a

[26:26] state statute. And and District Attorney

[26:29] Mlean may be able to answer that a

[26:30] little bit better, but

[26:32] >> and I will ask that when at that time.

[26:34] Um that's one of them. Um I do have a

[26:37] couple more that I saw.

[26:40] Okay, right here. Now, can you hear me?

[26:43] now? Oh, wow. Hey. All

[26:45] right. [laughter]

[26:47] Usually I have this booing voice.

[26:49] Anyways, all right. What happens if um

[26:52] parents are scared to search their kids'

[26:55] rooms? What can they do for assistance?

[26:59] >> I mean, we would certainly assist

[27:02] parents with that if they they needed

[27:04] our help. Um I

[27:08] we are always a phone call away and and

[27:10] we we have officers that you know if it

[27:13] it's some we have a community resource

[27:15] team we do have avenues that if they're

[27:18] uncomfortable calling you know the 911

[27:22] emergency line that that we can connect

[27:24] them with somebody.

[27:26] >> Thank you. Um let's see.

[27:30] Actually I will hold with that. If I

[27:34] think of any more, I'll try to come

[27:35] back. Thank you,

[27:38] >> Councelor Harman.

[27:40] >> My questions have been answered. Thanks,

[27:43] >> Councelor Long Champs.

[27:45] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, I just would like

[27:47] to thank you uh for being here tonight

[27:49] and presenting all that you all the

[27:51] facts. Um, I really don't have any

[27:54] questions. You've answered most of the

[27:56] uh questions that I would have asked.

[27:57] Thank you.

[27:59] >> Uh, and last but not least, now the

[28:01] councelor from 111. Councelor Nene.

[28:03] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, thank you,

[28:05] Chief, for being here today. Um, I I do

[28:07] have two questions. Um, one is, um, the

[28:12] escalation of crime. So, basically, we

[28:15] deal with quite a bit of, uh, um, joy

[28:18] riditing in the city, and I'm wondering

[28:20] if there's any indication that there's

[28:22] crossover from uh, let's say car

[28:25] burglary and and and um, u joy riding

[28:29] into uh, some of these gun crimes. I

[28:31] think is there a connection so to speak?

[28:34] I

[28:35] >> I I would say for the most part no. Um

[28:37] there may be a few cases, but uh I

[28:40] agree. We we've definitely had an

[28:42] increase in uh stolen motor vehicles uh

[28:44] specifically with the youth this year,

[28:46] but we don't necessarily see them the

[28:48] same groups being involved. Okay.

[28:50] >> There may be a little bit of crossover,

[28:52] but not for the most part.

[28:53] >> Okay. And and the second thing and I and

[28:55] I just I don't know if you you're able

[28:57] to verify this or not, but from my

[28:59] understanding

[29:00] five of the arrestes this year um were

[29:03] age 20 um young adults of which um three

[29:09] of them had uh aged out of the foster

[29:12] care system and one of them had been

[29:14] involved in a shooting when when he was

[29:17] 18 as well. Um, and I believe all of

[29:20] these uh children had had struggles

[29:23] within the LPS as well. So, I'm just

[29:25] asking if there's like a connection

[29:27] between

[29:29] uh maybe the continuum of care for

[29:31] people who are struggling in our

[29:32] community uh to the adult crimes that

[29:35] they were also committing most probably

[29:37] as as juveniles.

[29:39] >> So, I I can't speak to all of what you

[29:41] mentioned. I'd have to research that,

[29:42] but I can tell you that I can think of a

[29:45] few off the top of my head that we've dealt with and charged as adults

[29:49] that we dealt with as being involved in

[29:52] shootings as juveniles also.

[29:55] >> Okay. Thank you very much,

[29:58] Councelor Roy. Back to you. Let's see if

[30:00] this is on. All right, cool. Thank you.

[30:03] Um, one of the things I don't remember

[30:05] if we've done this before. Have we ever

[30:07] had like a

[30:09] gun buyback program? Has that ever been

[30:11] done?

[30:12] >> Oh,

[30:16] » no. So, we have not. And I and I can

[30:18] tell you that we have looked into that.

[30:20] We've talked with ATF. We've talked with

[30:22] some of the individuals that do that.

[30:25] Um, and there are some challenges with

[30:27] that. And, uh,

[30:30] what they've seen in the past is is not

[30:33] necessarily getting the guns back that

[30:35] they'd be looking for. um you what what

[30:39] they see is, you know, shotguns and, you

[30:42] know, grandparents rifles that people

[30:43] are hanging on to that they're turning

[30:45] in. They're not they haven't seen um the

[30:48] results that you we would be looking

[30:50] for, the handguns being turned in that

[30:52] are involved in violent crime.

[30:54] >> Thank you.

[30:56] >> Uh any other counselors have anything?

[31:01] >> Chief, thank you so much for being here.

[31:02] >> Thank you.

[31:04] We will now

[31:06] if we can hold uh audience applause and

[31:09] everything else. Thank you. Uh we now

[31:11] have uh Neil Mlan.

[31:37] DA MLAN, thank you so much for uh for

[31:39] joining us.

[31:46] » Well, thank you all. It's a a pleasure

[31:48] to be here with you, unfortunately, to

[31:51] discuss a difficult topic that's uh a

[31:55] big problem in uh Lewon and we're trying

[31:58] to get a hold of it. Uh but I do

[31:59] appreciate being invited to uh

[32:02] participate in the conversation and

[32:03] offer some information uh from the

[32:06] district attorney's office. I do like to

[32:08] begin these conversations about violent

[32:11] crime increases, whatever is happening

[32:13] in Lewon, uh just to say uh that I hope

[32:17] everyone appreciates it would be much

[32:18] worse than it is right now if we did not

[32:21] have Lewon PD doing a fantastic job with

[32:24] the limited resources you just

[32:31] heard uh Chief Connley talk about. That

[32:33] is a serious issue. Uh but nonetheless,

[32:35] I know they're out there every night and

[32:37] all day long uh working on this issue. U

[32:41] so I was asked I I guess first to just

[32:44] talk about uh what the DA's office does

[32:47] uh to give a breakdown of of what that

[32:50] is. Uh and I think it's most easily

[32:53] described as our primary role primary

[32:56] role is to uphold the law, protect

[32:58] public safety, and pursue justice on

[33:00] behalf of the community. Uh that's what

[33:02] we do every day. Uh we try to do the

[33:05] best job that we can, but that is uh

[33:07] what we're tasked with doing. Uh we work

[33:09] very closely with law enforcement. We

[33:11] work with Lewon PD on a regular basis.

[33:14] Uh we handle every criminal case that uh comes uh

[33:20] through District 3. District 3 is Oxford

[33:23] County, Andrew Goggen County, and

[33:25] Franklin County. Uh but we handle every

[33:27] criminal case other than murder and some

[33:30] of the drug uh felony drug charges. Uh

[33:33] everything else is ours. Uh it is a lot

[33:35] of cases. Uh we work with Lewon PD. We

[33:38] also work uh and I think it's important

[33:41] to keep in mind with 30 other law

[33:43] enforcement agencies. So with the

[33:45] limited resources we have, we're not

[33:47] just supporting Lewon. We're supporting

[33:49] every town and every a law enforcement

[33:52] agency across three counties. Uh and

[33:54] that is important to remember. Uh

[33:56] because we too have some resource issues

[33:58] and I'll get to that momentarily. Um

[34:01] what it is we do with every single case

[34:04] that comes through uh is we are

[34:06] specifically tasked with reviewing and

[34:08] filing charges uh we're responsible for

[34:11] all the discovery related to those charges uh which is an

[34:19] increasing task on our office uh in the

[34:22] current era of litigation. Uh but we

[34:25] have to review all charges. We're

[34:27] responsible for all the all the

[34:28] discovery that comes in. We think about

[34:30] law enforcement collecting evidence uh

[34:33] which is true uh and law enforcement

[34:36] does not work to me for me. They have a

[34:38] very capable chief here in Chief Connley

[34:40] and every department has their own chief

[34:42] but we are none the none nonetheless in

[34:44] the eyes of the court. We are

[34:46] responsible for law enforcement. Uh so

[34:48] we are responsible for every piece of

[34:50] evidence that comes out. Something's

[34:52] missing. It's not right. It's us in the

[34:55] DA's office and the case itself uh that

[34:57] suffer. Not suggesting that's an issue,

[34:59] but it's another uh large task that

[35:01] we're responsible for. Uh in every case,

[35:05] we're responsible for negotiating all

[35:07] cases prior to trials. Uh we conduct all

[35:10] hearings and trials of every case that

[35:12] go to hearing or trial. Uh we support

[35:14] every victim and survivor. Uh very

[35:17] limited resources and the staff that we

[35:19] have to do that. Uh but we're

[35:21] responsible for uh every bit of that

[35:23] task as well. uh we're responsible for

[35:26] all of the sentencing that happens if

[35:28] we're successful at a hearing or trial

[35:30] or plea negotiation and we handle every

[35:33] appeal and postconviction review that

[35:35] comes through. So those seven tasks all

[35:38] in and of themselves uh very uh uh

[35:42] detailed and um uh uh timeconuming tasks

[35:47] we take care of with every individual

[35:49] case uh in D3 district 3 right now uh

[35:54] that includes about 3

[35:58] uh 20 uh 3,250 cases uh that we're

[36:03] responsible to do every one of those

[36:04] things for every one of those cases.

[36:06] Uh so it's a huge case load. Uh

[36:10] and uh that just describes the cases

[36:13] that are pending before the court. That

[36:14] does not include all of the filings, all

[36:17] of the different proc uh cases that we

[36:20] process that don't get plugged into the

[36:22] court. So your prosecutors are busy

[36:24] every day uh most weekends and well into

[36:28] the evening hours uh trying to keep up

[36:30] with this task. Um, and this is all

[36:33] important to the the violence and

[36:35] because it goes to the resources we have

[36:38] to apply to any individual uh task that

[36:41] we try to be involved in. Uh, we have 16

[36:44] prosecutors uh to handle those 3,250

[36:47] cases. Two of those are drug

[36:49] prosecutors, so they only handle drug

[36:51] cases, which means we really have 14

[36:54] prosecutors uh to handle all of those

[36:56] cases. Just by way of a quick

[36:59] comparison, uh we are the third busiest

[37:02] court in the state right now. Uh Lewon

[37:05] dis uh Lewon Court is uh and if you look

[37:08] at uh D1 uh district 1, which is York

[37:12] County, they have 19 prosecutors. If you

[37:15] look at Cumberland County, they have 20

[37:17] prosecutors. So we're at a disadvantage

[37:19] just based on the numbers we have. But

[37:21] what makes it even worse uh is we can't

[37:24] compete right now uh due to pay par uh

[37:28] pay parody and uh uh quite frankly case

[37:32] loads and a desire to be a prosecutor in

[37:34] today's day and age. We don't see the

[37:36] same passion any longer, the same desire

[37:38] to join our office. Uh so right now with

[37:41] that same case load number I talked to

[37:43] you about, we have eight prosecutors

[37:46] across all of district three. Uh that

[37:49] means that my deputy uh who's in the

[37:52] back of the room is we don't we don't

[37:54] have a prosecutor in Oxford County right

[37:56] now. Uh so the deputy deputy uh Josh

[37:59] Klein Golden is pretty much covering all

[38:01] of Oxford County. I'm covering Farming

[38:04] uh Franklin County solo and that leaves

[38:07] six prosecutors to handle the third

[38:09] busiest court uh in the state. Uh those

[38:13] uh 1,833

[38:15] of the cases are specific to Andrew

[38:17] Goan. Uh what we have done uh because we

[38:21] are aware of the gun problem uh in

[38:24] addition to all the other problems is we

[38:26] have created a unit of sorts or we've

[38:29] assigned two of our best prosecutors to

[38:32] assist Lewon PD uh with all gun violence

[38:35] cases. Uh so if you imagine we only have

[38:38] six, we're assigning two just to this

[38:40] issue right here. They also have to

[38:43] carry a case load outside of this. Uh

[38:45] but they are primarily tasked with this.

[38:47] They're available to law enforcement 24

[38:49] hours a day. They're on call. Law

[38:52] enforcement has their numbers. Uh so

[38:54] they're taking calls at 2 or 3 in the

[38:56] morning when these gun cases arise. Uh

[38:58] they're helping with search warrants. Uh

[39:00] but they're deeply involved. Uh and

[39:02] again, that's the best we could do with

[39:04] the limited resources. We have two

[39:05] prosecutors assigned. Uh Deputy Klein

[39:08] Golden also helps out with that. The two

[39:10] prosecutors are uh Alexander Winter uh

[39:14] and Brie White and they do a fantastic

[39:16] job of addressing this in the best way

[39:18] that they can uh with the limited

[39:20] resources.

[39:22] What do we need to do an even better

[39:24] job? Uh we need more prosecutors. Uh

[39:28] it's as simple as that. We need at least

[39:30] another prosecutor in all three

[39:32] counties. we could use two new

[39:34] prosecutors uh in Andrewskogen County

[39:37] just to be able to keep up with the

[39:38] cases. So, what you'll hear sometimes is

[39:41] people will say, "Well, just lower your

[39:43] case load. It's up to you. You you're

[39:45] the one that uh puts the cases into the

[39:47] court uh processes and files them." But

[39:50] that's not really true. That's a lazy

[39:52] answer. And I'm uh glad to have that

[39:54] conversation with the people that say

[39:55] it. Uh because we don't pick crime. We

[39:58] charge crime when Lewon or any other

[40:00] department sees it. They don't pick

[40:02] crime. They're not out there committing

[40:04] it. They're addressing it when it's

[40:07] committed. And it's our responsibility

[40:09] to support them and support you all. And

[40:11] we do it. Uh we don't uh refuse to uh

[40:15] prosecute any type of crime. Uh because

[40:18] I've heard loudly from all of you that

[40:20] you don't want me to do that. Uh so we

[40:22] put our cases forward. Uh we do the best

[40:25] we can, but we need more prosecutors. uh

[40:28] eight prosecutors for a district like this is impossible. Uh we

[40:33] have lost a prosecutor uh to a better

[40:36] paying job in another state uh pro uh

[40:39] another state criminal law office, the

[40:41] uh public defenders office. Uh we lost

[40:44] out on a higher uh because they could

[40:47] simply make more money and work a much

[40:50] smaller case load. Uh we've lost a

[40:52] prosecutor to uh the what we refer to as

[40:55] the contract attorneys because the state

[40:56] of Maine pays them $150 an hour. Uh the

[41:00] prosecutor we lost was making just shy

[41:02] of $40 an hour. Uh so we lost uh that

[41:06] prosecutor. Uh we lost a prosecutor, one

[41:10] of the best prosecutors we had. Uh one

[41:12] of uh arguably as good a prosecutor as

[41:15] there is in the state. Uh we lost that

[41:18] prosecutor to burnout. And before

[41:20] anybody thinks burnout is, you know,

[41:23] something someone should be ashamed of,

[41:26] it's really not. Uh the case loads are

[41:29] overwhelming. And what you'll see with

[41:31] prosecutors who really care is they care

[41:34] about their cases. Uh there's an ethical

[41:37] requirement that we do our job uh in

[41:40] every case uh to protect the rights of

[41:42] the the ch the accused, the victims. Uh

[41:45] we represent the court. Uh, and as I

[41:48] said, we have those massive obligations,

[41:50] seven different obligations with each

[41:52] individual case. And when a prosecutor

[41:54] feels like they're failing at their uh,

[41:57] ethical duty, it creates u u

[42:02] it it can be really demoralizing, but

[42:05] when you're dealing with three or 400

[42:08] cases, uh, three or 400 cases, uh, it's

[42:11] also overwhelming. So, add all of that

[42:14] up. Uh and sometimes uh it it can get

[42:17] the best of uh the best of us. Uh and

[42:20] we've lost prosecutors for all those

[42:22] reasons and we're having some difficulty

[42:24] filling them. Again, going back to the

[42:26] pay parody, because we can't compete.

[42:29] When I go to hire somebody and I tell

[42:30] them, "Come work for me. I'll pay you

[42:33] much less and give you a much bigger

[42:35] case load." Nobody's all that

[42:36] interested. Uh and they know it. Uh they

[42:39] know they'll make more money in the

[42:41] other offices. They know they'll have

[42:42] less cases. they'll have a better

[42:44] quality of life. Uh and it's a really

[42:47] difficult time to be a prosecutor uh

[42:49] criminal prosecutor and we need the

[42:51] legislaturator's help uh with that

[42:53] issue. Uh both the new prosecutors and

[42:56] the pay parody. I I can say just

[43:00] ironically, I did just receive a a text

[43:04] uh from somebody in the legislature who

[43:07] has worked with us in the past and they

[43:09] still understand the need to address

[43:11] this pay parody and have just just now

[43:13] suggested they will revisit it. Uh but

[43:16] we need that to happen. Uh or we're

[43:18] going to lose more prosecutors and we're

[43:20] going to not and we're not going to be

[43:21] able to fill the spots. Um,

[43:24] so I I think with with that in mind, we

[43:27] have a wonderful relationship with Lewon

[43:29] PD and most of our police departments.

[43:32] Uh, we have had a few of the prosecutors

[43:35] go on the saturation details with them

[43:38] to get out there and be with them to

[43:39] answer legal questions or to see what

[43:41] they're doing, uh, to understand what

[43:43] they're doing. We've had people within

[43:45] our staff who are county employees as

[43:47] well as prosecutors do ride alongs. We

[43:49] think it's important to know what Lewon

[43:51] PD is doing and be able to uh experience

[43:54] it so when we see their cases, we better

[43:56] appreciate uh what we're seeing. Uh

[43:59] we've met with them, as Chief Connley

[44:01] pointed out, to discuss uh gun violence,

[44:04] uh juvenile incompetency,

[44:07] uh and drugs, and everything else within

[44:09] the community. We regularly communicate

[44:11] and work together. Uh we've met with our

[44:13] federal partners. Uh they've offered

[44:16] some ideas that we'll follow up on. Uh

[44:20] in particular with the juvenile

[44:21] competency issue which is playing a big

[44:23] role. Uh some thoughts on how maybe uh

[44:26] we should be looking at our own experts

[44:28] to combat uh some of the uh evaluations

[44:31] we're seeing. Uh we'll look into that.

[44:34] But we are constantly working to do

[44:36] better uh in the areas where we think

[44:38] we're lacking. Um,

[44:46] so I I guess other than that, again,

[44:48] we've when we get back to the jun, so we

[44:51] do not have a juvenile prosecutor in any

[44:54] of the three counties. Uh, you have Josh

[44:56] Klein Golden, myself, and a couple of

[45:00] other people who assist uh when we need

[45:04] it, but you don't have anybody dedicated

[45:06] to it. We should have a dedicated

[45:08] juvenile prosecutor. Uh because we're so

[45:11] overwhelmed, we don't get to do the

[45:12] training some other people get to do.

[45:14] Training opportunities pop up and it's

[45:16] like, well, geez, you have court that

[45:17] day. We don't have anybody to cover

[45:19] court that day. Uh so we're falling

[45:21] behind in some of the training that's so

[45:23] important to keep up uh with the latest

[45:25] strategies and the latest developments.

[45:27] Uh but again, your prosecutors are

[45:29] showing up every day uh to work and

[45:31] working really hard in the face of all

[45:34] of this. Uh, so I'm a fan of the work

[45:37] they're doing. I know you don't get to

[45:39] see it every day and sometimes you see

[45:40] the outcomes and you're not happy, but

[45:42] boy, if you saw how they got to the

[45:44] outcome and how hard they're working, I

[45:46] think you'd be a fan as well. Uh, they

[45:49] do a a tremendous job with uh very

[45:52] little. Um

[45:54] we've looked uh one of the prosecutors

[45:57] who is really dedicated to this issue uh

[46:00] provided me with some

[46:03] uh some educational uh programs that we

[46:06] should consider and we'll look into

[46:07] those. I think one of them is uh called

[46:10] uh the great program and it's a gang

[46:12] resistant education and training program

[46:15] where you can use uniform law

[46:17] enforcement to work with uh elementary

[46:19] and middle school kids to talk to them

[46:21] about how to avoid this kind of

[46:23] behavior. Uh I think some of these may

[46:25] be federal programs. So we'll look at

[46:27] funding. Uh we certainly don't have

[46:30] funding for it. We're funded by the

[46:31] county. Uh there's the OJJDP which is

[46:35] the Office of Juvenile Justice and

[46:36] Delinquency. Uh that is another

[46:38] organization we've heard of recently uh

[46:41] that we may see if there's anything they

[46:43] can offer us. Uh these would be for

[46:45] programs to deal with children after

[46:47] they've been involved or maybe even

[46:50] before uh like like the great program

[46:52] that would be maybe a a proactive

[46:55] approach. Uh and there's a focus

[46:57] deterrence program as well that we'll

[46:59] look into. Uh so those are things we

[47:02] will continue to look into into try to

[47:04] do a better job. Uh the last thing I'll

[47:06] say, and we've talked uh about the

[47:07] juvenile uh gun program, is we hear a

[47:12] lot of people talk uh about the

[47:14] children. Uh and I went to a meeting uh

[47:17] a couple a week or so ago and I heard

[47:21] somebody say that the children are not

[47:22] the problem. So when these cases arise

[47:26] on my desk, the children are the

[47:27] problem. And they're not children,

[47:29] they're juveniles. we should call them

[47:30] what they are because when you call them

[47:32] children or kiddos which I see way too

[47:35] often you're minimizing the significance

[47:38] of what they're doing. Uh so I am a

[47:41] single voice within the system. I'm not

[47:44] saying the pro other prosecutors don't

[47:45] do the same thing but we don't have the

[47:47] support uh for maybe some of that

[47:49] ideology with others. But I think we

[47:52] should be calling it what it is. These

[47:55] uh juveniles have committed very serious

[47:57] crimes uh that endanger the lives of

[47:59] other people in the community. They they

[48:01] endanger their own lives. Uh some of

[48:03] these kids that are involved in it or

[48:05] these juveniles, sorry, they're involved

[48:06] in it. Uh they may be the shooter one

[48:09] day, they'll be the victim the next day.

[48:11] Uh so we have an obligation to all of

[48:13] them. And I think we're failing them if

[48:15] we continue to treat them like children.

[48:17] The other thing we need to do is we need

[48:19] people in elected positions to take this

[48:21] serious. Uh not fight amongstel each

[48:24] other or themselves not uh be divisive

[48:28] in nature. Uh we need people to come

[48:30] together and go this is a problem. We

[48:32] need to unify to come to terms with how

[48:34] we address it. Uh stop blaming it on

[48:37] specific groups but also stop pretending

[48:40] it doesn't exist where it does. uh we

[48:42] have to call uh you know if you know

[48:44] where it's happening, who's involved, uh

[48:47] we need to call that out. How do we fix

[48:49] the problem if we're uh not addressing

[48:52] the regions or the areas that the crimes

[48:55] are occurring? Uh we need to be

[48:56] professional and thoughtful about it. Uh

[48:59] but we also can't uh be divisive when we

[49:02] try to make a difference in those

[49:03] communities because those communities

[49:05] deserve their children to be safe and to

[49:07] live. uh they don't want their children

[49:10] to die at the hand of a juvenile with a

[49:12] gun. But we need to be open about the

[49:15] conversation. It's not a politically

[49:16] correct conversation. Uh we need to have

[49:19] it. We need to be honest about the

[49:20] language. Uh we need to be honest about

[49:23] the facts. Uh and we need to uh do our

[49:26] very best to address it. Uh because the

[49:28] way I look at it is I'm a father of four

[49:30] kids. My four kids are your kids.

[49:34] neighbors, friends at the playground,

[49:37] they may be your college friends

[49:39] someday. They may be your colleagues.

[49:41] We're all in it together. Uh there is no

[49:44] distinction. A gun doesn't know a

[49:45] distinction. A bullet doesn't know a

[49:47] distinction. Uh we as the leader should stop making those distinctions.

[49:52] We should be addressing it for the

[49:53] problem that it is and being honest

[49:55] about where it's happening, what's

[49:57] happening, because that's how we're

[49:58] going to fix it. And uh the last thing,

[50:03] remember there was an old saying that it

[50:04] takes a community to raise a child. I

[50:07] never really agreed with that. I

[50:09] understand the concept. Uh the community

[50:11] does need to provide uh things to make

[50:14] the community safe, playgrounds,

[50:17] athletic fields, but the community does

[50:19] not need to raise the child. The child

[50:21] needs to be raised by their parents. And

[50:23] we need to start expecting that parents

[50:26] will be more involved early on because

[50:28] if the parents are doing the best that

[50:30] they can. If they need some support, we

[50:32] should be there to give it. But that's

[50:34] where a juvenile's life

[50:38] or track begins. And if they get out in

[50:41] the world and they've never been told

[50:42] no, they've never been told what you're

[50:44] doing is wrong, they've never been

[50:46] punished by their parents for do

[50:48] misbehaving, they're not going to listen

[50:50] to me. They're not going to listen to

[50:51] Lewis and PD. they're not going to

[50:52] listen to anybody in this room. Uh, and

[50:54] that's the problem we're running into

[50:56] right now. There's very little respect

[50:58] for Lewon PD when they're out there.

[51:00] Very little respect for us in the

[51:02] courtroom, very little respect for the

[51:04] courtroom process itself much of the

[51:06] time. I think all of that begins in the

[51:10] home. Uh, and it goes to if you're

[51:13] seeing guns, you've got to call that in.

[51:15] Look out for your own children. Give

[51:16] them the guidance they need. uh we'll

[51:19] deal uh with it uh the best we can in

[51:22] providing services and resources, but

[51:25] once it again once it arrives on my

[51:27] desk, I'm I'm the mean step parent

[51:29] because it's now time to start talking

[51:32] about accountability, responsibility,

[51:34] and uh punitively what needs to be done

[51:36] to make sure these kids don't kill

[51:38] somebody or kill themselves. Uh and

[51:41] lastly, Carly was so right. People need

[51:44] to fund this stuff. we don't have a lot

[51:47] of money. But if we don't start changing

[51:49] some of the laws and statutes out of

[51:51] Augusta, and if we don't start funding

[51:53] the resources we need, those two things,

[51:56] if we don't do it because we don't like

[51:58] to spend money, we might as well just

[52:00] watch this escalate even further. Uh so

[52:02] we need people to take it serious in

[52:05] Augusta, we need them to help us out uh

[52:07] with funding and statutes. I'd love to

[52:10] revisit the competency statute. Uh the

[52:13] chronological immaturity is a concept

[52:16] that I really struggle with. I think it

[52:18] I will read a incompetency evaluation

[52:21] and go great kids competent. I'll get to

[52:25] the last two pages and chronological

[52:27] immaturity will undercut it almost every

[52:29] time. We should revisit the definition

[52:31] at the very least. Remove it. I'm all

[52:33] for that. I know that won't have a lot

[52:35] of support, but we need to start doing a

[52:37] better job. Remember juveniles, we're

[52:40] not hurting them when we hold them

[52:42] accountable. We're helping them because

[52:44] we're keeping them from continuing to do

[52:47] the things that are going to hurt

[52:49] somebody else or themselves.

[52:55] » Thank you,

[52:57] >> Dan Mlan. Thank you very much for being

[52:59] here and thank you uh for your entire

[53:01] team and all the work you guys do. I

[53:02] appreciate it. Uh we're going to start

[53:04] on this side of the table. Ward one.

[53:06] Councelor Nene, did you have any

[53:08] questions?

[53:10] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, yeah, I I do.

[53:13] Uh, about the uh uh funding sources. So,

[53:17] the county pays for um staff at the DA's

[53:22] office.

[53:23] >> It does. It's we are a hybrid office is

[53:26] how I refer to it. The attorneys are all

[53:28] state employees. And I'd love to change

[53:30] this as well. Uh I'd love to be have us

[53:33] all under the state umbrella so we can

[53:34] properly be funded, but instead uh the

[53:38] attorneys are are funded by the state.

[53:41] Everything else is funded by you all,

[53:44] the count the the county of uh Andrew

[53:46] Scoggin, Oxford, and Franklin, which is

[53:49] a huge burden to put on you all. We do

[53:51] our best not to be uh to spend a lot of

[53:53] money, but we know uh reassessments are

[53:56] out there, taxes are high, people don't

[53:58] have a lot of money, and uh we're asking

[54:01] for money to be able to do what we need

[54:02] to do. Uh and it comes from the county.

[54:05] Uh so not specifically from Lewon, but

[54:07] as I understand it, Lewon pays a big

[54:09] chunk of that county budget.

[54:10] >> We not only pay a big chunk of the

[54:12] county budget, but it also increased by

[54:14] 20% this year um for for our taxpayers.

[54:18] Are there cases in which municipalities

[54:21] pay for for instance an attorney?

[54:24] >> The attorneys are all uh licensed and uh

[54:28] we are all part of the attorney

[54:29] general's office. Uh we've had Lewis

[54:32] we've had police departments very kindly

[54:34] offer to off we'll give you a

[54:37] prosecutor. We'll put it right here in

[54:38] our our building. Uh but it it's not

[54:41] something we can do to the best of my

[54:42] knowledge and if we did we need the

[54:44] approval of the attorney general. And the last question I have is just so

[54:48] when cases come to you, juvenile cases

[54:50] come to you, they're they're handled uh

[54:53] only as criminal cases, correct?

[54:56] Are there referrals to is there any

[54:58] system of uh family or juvenile courts

[55:01] that are that are not uh

[55:06] I I assume normally you're dealing with

[55:08] only felonies. Um if you could just

[55:10] speak to to how that's divided out. No,

[55:13] that we we deal with every juvenile

[55:15] crime that comes in. Uh we have juvenile

[55:18] community corrections officers who

[55:19] oftentimes will review the cases, the

[55:21] low-level cases in advance. And I should

[55:24] I I think it's worth noting we have some

[55:26] really incredible juvenile community

[55:28] corrections officers here in Andrew

[55:30] Scoggin County. I know they work really

[55:32] hard uh and they're very supportive of

[55:34] what we do and they've met with Lewon

[55:36] PD. Uh but they will review cases uh

[55:40] some of the low-level cases up front.

[55:41] they may handle them through resources

[55:44] and uh uh diversion programs before they

[55:47] even get to our uh desk. But if a

[55:49] juvenile doesn't cooperate andor there's

[55:52] a history there, uh we get everything

[55:54] from uh disorderly conduct to a bag

[55:59] assault with a weapon. Uh the

[56:00] interesting thing about the juvenile

[56:02] system as well is you can get the same

[56:04] sentence for all of those. uh they carry

[56:06] classifications on the just like they

[56:08] would with the uh adult, you know, class

[56:11] ABC D or E. Uh but you can get the same

[56:15] sentence for a class E disorderly

[56:17] conduct that you can get for a class A

[56:19] offense, which is uh a commitment. Uh so

[56:22] it's it's a completely different beast,

[56:23] which is why we need a prosecutor who

[56:27] really understands the code, title 15.

[56:30] Uh and right now uh we understand it but

[56:34] we're not uh we're switching gears to

[56:36] adult adult uh juvenile adult juvenile

[56:39] and it's really something that deserves

[56:41] specific focus.

[56:45] » Councelor Long Champs.

[56:47] >> Thank you, Mayor.

[56:49] [clears throat]

[56:51] » Thank you so much uh for being here and

[56:54] sharing all of the information that you

[56:56] did. Um that it was a lot it's a lot to

[56:58] digest.

[57:00] Um, I think you have said it very direct

[57:04] and very clear. Uh, your office is doing

[57:07] everything they can uh when criminals uh

[57:10] get to your desk, but you're lacking

[57:13] staff. Um, and I think a lot of that, as

[57:17] you shared, is uh pay scale. Um, the

[57:21] truth is is Augusta needs to do better.

[57:24] Um,

[57:26] we're saying that as loudly as we can.

[57:29] You hear that we're suffering here in

[57:31] Lewon. You hear our date, our DA's

[57:34] office basically crying out that they

[57:37] are overloaded.

[57:39] If you don't help us, shame on you. So,

[57:43] the person that sent you the text, which

[57:45] you do not have to share the name with

[57:46] me, nor am I asking you to, but I hope

[57:50] that as soon as you leave this table,

[57:53] they set up a meeting with you because

[57:55] we need it. Thank you.

[58:02] And I know this wasn't a question, but I

[58:03] do

[58:04] >> Sorry. Go ahead. Uh

[58:05] >> I just feel like it's I I'm speaking

[58:07] about Andrew Scoggin because uh that's

[58:10] where we are. Uh and that's what you all

[58:11] care about. Uh but I do think it's

[58:13] important to say this is true of every

[58:15] district attorney's office. Uh they all

[58:17] need uh help. So it's a much broader

[58:20] problem. Uh and I just think it's

[58:21] important uh especially when other

[58:23] people are listening that people don't

[58:25] think I'm saying this is just our

[58:27] problem. uh the help is most necessary

[58:29] because it affects every prosecutor's

[58:32] office across the state.

[58:34] >> Council Long Champs.

[58:35] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um so I would also

[58:38] just like to say that um I I don't think

[58:41] this is just a problem that's happening

[58:43] in Lewon. I think it's, you know,

[58:45] happening throughout our state. So

[58:47] again, uh this the the state needs to do

[58:50] better in helping. Thank you.

[58:54] >> Councelor Haramman, did you have

[58:56] something?

[58:57] Yes, thank you. Thanks for being here.

[58:59] Um, I wondered if I could learn more

[59:02] about the non-competent designations.

[59:04] Um, who makes those and what happens

[59:09] when that designation is made and are

[59:11] you seeing that happening at a different

[59:14] rate than in the past or has it been

[59:17] fairly steady?

[59:19] >> So, it's different from when I handled

[59:22] juveniles 15 years ago. So yes, uh I

[59:25] haven't done juveniles specifically

[59:27] uh for about 15 years. So when I don't

[59:30] know how recently it's changed, uh but

[59:33] this this system uh and the way the

[59:36] evaluations are interpreted uh does seem

[59:39] very new to me and I could be wrong. It

[59:40] could be 5 to 10 years old, but it's newer than when I last did it. And

[59:45] I think what's problematic about it is

[59:48] uh it runs through some of the same

[59:51] criteria uh that the adult system would do. The ability to help your

[59:55] attorney to understand the charges to

[59:57] understand what people are doing uh to

[59:59] be able to communicate with your

[1:00:00] attorney to appear in court. Uh all of

[1:00:03] those things just like they might be in

[1:00:04] the adult analysis are there. But those

[1:00:07] are the parts that I regularly

[1:00:10] that I see frequently I should say uh

[1:00:14] seem to be met. But the juvenile what I see that's different uh is that

[1:00:19] chronological immaturity component. And

[1:00:22] I think when they get to that uh again

[1:00:25] if I'm speaking freely it I mean

[1:00:26] sometimes they'll include things like he

[1:00:29] the child the juvenile misbehaves at

[1:00:32] school. They have a they don't pay

[1:00:34] attention. And I'm thinking you just

[1:00:36] described my children. Uh but what

[1:00:39] ultimately happens is it turns into a

[1:00:40] non-competent because of an age. And I

[1:00:44] think that's really dangerous. Uh

[1:00:46] because we're failing the kids when we

[1:00:47] do that. Understand I'm not picking on

[1:00:50] uh the people that are making the

[1:00:51] analysis or the good heart or the uh

[1:00:54] intention behind it. I just really

[1:00:56] believe and we're seeing the escalation

[1:00:58] now that we're failing the children if

[1:01:00] that's what you want to call them, the

[1:01:01] juveniles, the kids. Uh but it's really

[1:01:05] that component. Uh it can be trauma. It

[1:01:07] can be trauma you experienced when you

[1:01:09] were three years old. Uh that you know

[1:01:12] now 15 or 10 14 years later uh they're

[1:01:17] using as part of an analysis uh to find

[1:01:20] incompetence. I my assessment is and

[1:01:23] it's state forensics uh that does it's a state um entity. uh and again I'm

[1:01:32] not picking at any individual analysis

[1:01:35] an uh evaluator

[1:01:38] uh but uh they do them uh they make

[1:01:40] their analysis they're very educated

[1:01:42] they know they know that uh the

[1:01:44] psychology and all of those things that

[1:01:46] uh one might say I don't uh but I also

[1:01:50] feel sometimes that what I'm actually

[1:01:51] seeing are juveniles duping uh

[1:01:54] malingering doing

[1:01:57] saying what needs to be said to get to

[1:01:59] an outcome come uh and once we get to

[1:02:01] that outcome uh I think it starts to

[1:02:05] become a slippery slope uh if they make

[1:02:07] that finding of incompetent

[1:02:10] u and we we get to revisiting it I think

[1:02:13] it's 60 days 180 days a year uh but

[1:02:18] after the year and and that's if they

[1:02:19] find there's a substantial likelihood uh

[1:02:22] that they they might be able to be

[1:02:24] competent so they have to make that

[1:02:26] finding as well um and that is in there

[1:02:30] a lot. The part I don't understand is

[1:02:32] you see a 13-year-old kid uh get that an

[1:02:36] analysis and when I read it, the reason

[1:02:38] they're finding is chronological

[1:02:40] immaturity. And I am not a doctor, but

[1:02:43] I'm thinking in a year they're going to

[1:02:45] be 14. They're still going to be

[1:02:46] incompetent. I don't even know why

[1:02:48] you're putting us through the nonsense

[1:02:49] of uh they might be because really it's

[1:02:53] 14 and under. I've seen them in that 15

[1:02:56] to 16 range using the same language. Um,

[1:03:00] and I I just think it's a system that we

[1:03:03] should all take a step back, relook at

[1:03:05] it, apply it to the way uh, children,

[1:03:08] juveniles, adolescence are acting today.

[1:03:11] Uh, and really ask ourselves if we're

[1:03:14] helping them uh, or if we're not just

[1:03:16] making more excuses for them. Because

[1:03:18] this is the the other thing I'll say

[1:03:19] about that, councelor Haramman, is the

[1:03:23] other thing we see, and I we see this

[1:03:25] way too often, is somebody will be

[1:03:28] incompetent, put back out on the street,

[1:03:30] put right back in the same environment

[1:03:31] they just came from, the same

[1:03:33] neighborhood, the same family, the same

[1:03:35] friends, nothing's changed. We're

[1:03:37] setting them up for failure. They fail

[1:03:39] again. Uh we've seen it where and I

[1:03:41] think Chief talked about someone who'd

[1:03:43] been caught and released five times.

[1:03:44] We're seeing incompetence one two uh

[1:03:48] times uh in the juvenile system and when

[1:03:53] they turn 18 two months later they're

[1:03:55] competent. Uh and my thought is they

[1:03:58] were always competent uh and we failed

[1:04:00] them and now they're going to prison.

[1:04:01] And I think that's the problem with the

[1:04:03] system right now.

[1:04:06] Thank you,

[1:04:08] >> councelor Roy. And if I can get

[1:04:10] counselor to speak uh directly into the

[1:04:12] mic so the entire audience can hear.

[1:04:14] Thank you.

[1:04:16] >> Thank you. Uh my questions were answered

[1:04:19] at this time. Thank you, councelor

[1:04:21] Noble.

[1:04:22] >> Mine were also it was just about how

[1:04:24] they figured out the competency part.

[1:04:29] >> Councelor Chidum,

[1:04:31] thank you. I appreciate your uh

[1:04:33] presentation.

[1:04:35] I understand that the district

[1:04:37] attorney's office is underfunded,

[1:04:39] understaffed, overworked. Um, this

[1:04:42] discussion tonight is specifically about

[1:04:45] gun violence in Lewon. And

[1:04:48] first question to you is, do we see gun

[1:04:49] violence in South Paris, in Oxford, in

[1:04:52] Auburn,

[1:04:54] or is it nearly exclusively, if not

[1:04:57] exclusively, uh, a creature of Lewon,

[1:05:00] Maine? I I think in Lewon we have or in

[1:05:04] Androskogan County. Um I don't I didn't

[1:05:07] break it down by city. Uh but in

[1:05:10] Androskogen County we have 29 juvenile

[1:05:13] cases pending uh that involve firearms.

[1:05:15] They're not all violent crimes. They

[1:05:17] might be concealed weapons, but 29

[1:05:19] pending. Uh in the other two counties, a

[1:05:22] much lower uh number, but it's also a

[1:05:25] much lower population. It's a much more

[1:05:27] rural area. quite frankly, they're

[1:05:29] probably doing things with guns they

[1:05:30] shouldn't be, but nobody knows because

[1:05:32] they're out in the woods. Uh, but when

[1:05:34] you're in downtown in a highly populated

[1:05:36] area and you're firing off guns, uh,

[1:05:39] people notice, people hear it and they

[1:05:41] want law enforcement to do something

[1:05:43] about it and then they want us to do

[1:05:44] something about it. So, I think the

[1:05:46] answer is we see it more here. Uh, but

[1:05:48] that's probably because it's in a highly

[1:05:51] visible populated area.

[1:05:54] >> Okay. Thank you. Okay. Well, that sort

[1:05:55] of leads into my question about what about Lewon is an attractor for

[1:05:59] this kind of behavior. Um, which is is a

[1:06:01] question I'm going to have for everybody in this room. Actually, we

[1:06:05] have 150 people in this room, 150 minds

[1:06:09] that we could be applying to solve this

[1:06:11] problem. Um, I don't doubt that we're

[1:06:14] all trying, but we obviously need to try

[1:06:16] harder. And I don't think it would be

[1:06:20] wonderful if we could throw money at

[1:06:21] this problem. That's a that's a poor

[1:06:23] phrase, but we do not have the money to

[1:06:25] do that. That's a constraint that our

[1:06:27] citizens have given to us. We need to

[1:06:29] figure out a way to address this problem

[1:06:32] without financial resources, at least

[1:06:35] financial resources coming from Lewon

[1:06:37] taxpayers. Uh we've already cut budgets

[1:06:39] to the bone. We've seen dramatic

[1:06:41] increases.

[1:06:42] >> Excuse me. Uh councelor, uh there's

[1:06:44] going to be time for general comments

[1:06:45] later. Do you have

[1:06:46] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for for bringing

[1:06:47] me back on track. Yes. Uh what specific

[1:06:50] actions can the city council of Lewon

[1:06:53] Maine do to assist you in uh performing

[1:06:56] your duties and your responsibilities?

[1:07:03] I'm not sure uh directly how much uh can

[1:07:08] be done uh again directly with our

[1:07:10] office but I think the things that are

[1:07:12] helpful uh and we've heard lots of

[1:07:15] people talk about these these issues but

[1:07:17] it would be to provide alternatives for

[1:07:20] kids within the community uh whether it

[1:07:22] be fields after school activities I know

[1:07:25] that uh that a lot of that is being done

[1:07:28] uh but things that occupy kids, uh,

[1:07:31] adolescence, uh, other than social

[1:07:34] media. If you can pass an ordinance that

[1:07:37] they can't have a phone and it, uh, look

[1:07:39] at social media, that would probably

[1:07:40] solve a lot of your problems. Uh, but if

[1:07:43] you can't do that, uh, then you have to

[1:07:45] offer them alternatives. Uh, they're

[1:07:47] kids. Uh, and I know I was just saying I don't like to call them that, but

[1:07:51] before they get to my desk, they're

[1:07:53] kids. Uh, and again, I have my own. uh

[1:07:55] and they're silly and they do stupid

[1:07:57] things and they make stupid mistakes,

[1:07:59] but they should do it in a way that

[1:08:01] doesn't endanger everyone around them.

[1:08:03] Uh they should ride a bike without a

[1:08:04] helmet and not shoot a gun in downtown.

[1:08:07] uh but if we can offer them things to do

[1:08:10] uh or you all can do that uh and again

[1:08:13] I'll say it uh and I

[1:08:16] mean no disrespect by this but if this

[1:08:17] committee can stay together uh and not

[1:08:20] uh infight over things uh and really uh

[1:08:24] remember that we're all trying to do the

[1:08:26] same thing uh and help uh the kids out

[1:08:29] in the community uh there are things

[1:08:32] that can be done after school ba

[1:08:34] basketball uh extracurricular activities

[1:08:37] uh whatever you can be done that may not

[1:08:39] even be super expensive. Uh just opening

[1:08:42] up options uh to them. Uh work programs

[1:08:47] uh things that help build some instill

[1:08:49] within them a desire to work and make

[1:08:51] money for themselves. Uh things that

[1:08:53] they can do around town. Uh I know I've

[1:08:56] had a conversation with somebody about

[1:08:58] uh something like that. even if it's uh

[1:09:01] school kids helping with graffiti or tra

[1:09:03] I mean things that that you can get them

[1:09:05] out there uh get them working build that

[1:09:08] part of their personality uh or that

[1:09:11] part of their character uh and provide

[1:09:14] them things to do that are fun. Uh I was

[1:09:16] at the basilica and my family were

[1:09:18] getting ready to go into church and uh I

[1:09:21] saw three kids playing soccer in the

[1:09:24] parking lot that was completely lined

[1:09:25] with vehicles uh losing the ball under

[1:09:28] the under the uh the vehicles and then

[1:09:31] being worried they might get in trouble

[1:09:32] to go grab it. And all I can think is

[1:09:34] there's going to be a better place for

[1:09:36] them to play soccer uh because it it's

[1:09:38] pretty clear they want to. Uh so I think

[1:09:40] if we provide them the things that they

[1:09:42] need uh to to be able to be active in

[1:09:46] healthy activities,

[1:09:48] I mean I know that's simple answer,

[1:09:50] easier said than done, but I think

[1:09:52] that's a part of it.

[1:09:55] >> Thank you. And one follow-up question.

[1:09:58] Um

[1:10:00] these children, these kids, these

[1:10:02] juveniles, uh have spare time. Juveniles

[1:10:05] do silly things in spare time, but they

[1:10:07] also are incentivized. Have you, in your

[1:10:10] experience, found that there are drivers

[1:10:12] of this behavior. For example, I'm

[1:10:15] leading the question now. Uh, do we have

[1:10:17] drug activity that's encouraging our

[1:10:19] youth in Lewon to go down these paths

[1:10:22] that we're trying to block off so

[1:10:24] diligently right now?

[1:10:27] >> So, I don't know if I can speak to that

[1:10:29] on the grander scale, but do I see it in

[1:10:32] situational instances? of course uh

[1:10:35] there's drugs uh there's peer pressure

[1:10:37] there's social media there's all kinds

[1:10:39] of bad influences out there uh once they

[1:10:42] leave their home which again uh is why I

[1:10:45] think that that nurturing belongs begins

[1:10:48] and should stay on some level within the

[1:10:50] home uh because once they get out

[1:10:52] they're exposed to uh again bad

[1:10:54] influences peer pressure a desire to

[1:10:56] elevate themselves within the community

[1:10:59] um we I talked a little bit about not

[1:11:04] being afraid being not being politically

[1:11:05] correct and being afraid to say

[1:11:07] something. I had a conversation uh once

[1:11:09] about how to fix uh things and I used

[1:11:12] the terms gangs and I was told to stop

[1:11:14] saying that because that encourages

[1:11:16] people uh to think they're in a gang and

[1:11:20] I'm thinking they are in gangs. I don't

[1:11:22] know what you what what part of that you

[1:11:24] don't understand but uh we need to call

[1:11:25] it what it is. Uh and that's what they

[1:11:28] see. So they see that they see a free

[1:11:30] pair of Nike sneakers to do something

[1:11:32] stupid that they otherwise can't afford.

[1:11:34] And that's a that's an adolescent thing.

[1:11:36] We all could fall susceptible to that.

[1:11:38] It's it's economics. It's impo it's it's

[1:11:41] poverty. It's being in an area

[1:11:45] very urban area that doesn't have a lot

[1:11:47] to offer uh for outdoor activities. Uh

[1:11:50] but yes, you see that on a small scale.

[1:11:52] Drugs is always a problem. Uh drugs come

[1:11:55] with guns. Guns come with drugs. So they

[1:11:58] do interrelate I think on some level. I

[1:12:00] don't know on what percentage of cases.

[1:12:03] >> Thank you very much

[1:12:05] councelor Martell.

[1:12:07] >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Thank you district

[1:12:09] attorney uh man for being here your

[1:12:11] presentation. Um first question. So

[1:12:16] I I was told I I I guess you're the best

[1:12:18] person to answer this. Uh I had a

[1:12:20] conversation as someone relayed to me

[1:12:22] that they believe there were statutes uh

[1:12:24] from Augusta that limit how long a

[1:12:26] juvenile can be held prior to conviction

[1:12:29] and sentencing on a crime. Is there any truth to that or is there anything

[1:12:34] uh I guess that what I'm trying to dig

[1:12:36] down on is how are these kids shooting

[1:12:38] up our city on Friday and back at the

[1:12:40] dinner table on Monday so consistently

[1:12:43] or maybe not at the dinner table but out

[1:12:45] shooting again on Monday?

[1:12:48] >> No. And I I think that's one of the

[1:12:49] greatest frustrations. Uh and I think

[1:12:51] you will hear a speaker that will know

[1:12:53] much more about the statutes as they

[1:12:55] relate to DOC. I think uh they will have

[1:12:58] a probably a better uh more meaningful

[1:13:00] answer. Um you can hold a kid, a kid can

[1:13:04] be detained at Long Creek uh pending

[1:13:06] hearing. It's just about the criteria

[1:13:08] that needs to be met. And uh the

[1:13:10] juvenile justice system is about least

[1:13:13] restrictive. Uh so as long as there's an

[1:13:15] alternative uh and I think again

[1:13:18] personally maybe to a flaw as long as

[1:13:21] there's an alternative an aunt cousin uh

[1:13:25] a friend that's responsible uh the

[1:13:27] JCCOs's are going to do their best uh to

[1:13:29] find a place for them not to be in Long

[1:13:32] Creek because there is a belief uh that

[1:13:34] they don't really get a lot of positive

[1:13:36] experiences in Long Creek and they are

[1:13:39] still juveniles. I'm not defending it

[1:13:40] but that's I think that's sort of the

[1:13:42] philosophy. Uh so no I I don't there is

[1:13:45] no no rule that says they can't be

[1:13:47] detained until a hearing. Uh in fact it

[1:13:49] does happen. Uh but there are there are

[1:13:53] trigger dates you know after they are

[1:13:55] picked up 48 hours to be seen by a

[1:13:58] judge. Um

[1:14:00] quite frankly if a juvenile is detained

[1:14:03] there are regular uh reassessments or we

[1:14:06] revisit it every 30 days. uh next

[1:14:09] juvenile date, we're looking at it again

[1:14:10] and saying, "Did you find a place? Are

[1:14:12] there some resources uh that we can put

[1:14:15] in place while they're out that will be

[1:14:17] helpful?" Uh someone here uh mentioned

[1:14:20] to me ankle bracelets uh or ankle

[1:14:23] monitors, I should say. Uh we we uh we

[1:14:27] used to use those in Waldo County.

[1:14:28] They're effective. Uh but you need

[1:14:30] somebody to pay for them. You need

[1:14:31] somebody to monitor them. It's usually

[1:14:33] one of the departments. Uh typically

[1:14:35] it's been the sheriff's departments in

[1:14:36] places I've been. Uh but that's that's

[1:14:39] worth a discussion. The problem is

[1:14:42] nobody believes pre-commitment.

[1:14:45] Uh nobody

[1:14:48] in a meaningful place position. I I do

[1:14:51] believe there are juveniles that belong

[1:14:53] detained until hearings. Absolutely. Uh

[1:14:55] but in I think most people uh with some

[1:14:58] exceptions believe it's not a good

[1:15:00] place. We should get them out, get them

[1:15:01] to a place where they can uh

[1:15:04] rehabilitate uh while they wait for the

[1:15:06] hearing. Of course, they're they're

[1:15:07] innocent at that point. They haven't

[1:15:09] been adjudicated of anything. Uh and

[1:15:11] that is what you see. Um you see them

[1:15:14] being released uh usually with

[1:15:16] conditions of release uh with a JCCO to

[1:15:20] monitor uh monitor them while they're

[1:15:22] out. Uh that is another thing we I did

[1:15:25] not address, but it goes to this point.

[1:15:27] We need DHS to step up uh when people

[1:15:30] are found incompetent. I think we have a

[1:15:32] horrible system in place to uh to help

[1:15:35] kids. Uh just because they're

[1:15:37] incompetent doesn't mean they should

[1:15:39] just be thrown back out on the street.

[1:15:40] Uh and DHS should do should do a better

[1:15:42] job of working with them. Uh and

[1:15:45] resources generally. Uh we need whether

[1:15:48] it be an ankle monitor or some other

[1:15:50] system in place. Uh those are resource

[1:15:53] driven and again those cost money but

[1:15:55] those are the things I think would make

[1:15:57] people feel safer.

[1:16:00] Thank you. Um I do believe that there is

[1:16:02] some flawed logic in that. So we want

[1:16:05] especially for juveniles for the

[1:16:06] criminal justice system to be

[1:16:09] rehabilitative and that makes sense. But

[1:16:12] the idea that we're going to avoid um

[1:16:17] holding these juveniles at all costs for

[1:16:20] every possibility. So the at least

[1:16:23] myself I struggle with the idea that

[1:16:25] okay so it's not good for these kids.

[1:16:27] there's not a lot of good happening for

[1:16:28] them uh if they're at Long Creek.

[1:16:30] There's not a lot of good happening in

[1:16:32] our community when they're released back

[1:16:33] out to it. And when bullets fly and they

[1:16:36] don't discriminate against who they hit,

[1:16:38] um I think at some point we we have to

[1:16:40] look at the good of the community over

[1:16:42] the good of the individual. Uh the good

[1:16:44] of the many over the good of the

[1:16:45] individual sometimes. Um and

[1:16:51] you know, I hear you talk about programs

[1:16:53] and alternatives and options. Um, you

[1:16:56] know, the carrot and stick approach only

[1:16:58] works when you have a proper stick. And

[1:17:00] I think that

[1:17:02] um, you know, I think so, so an example

[1:17:05] like ankle monitors sounds

[1:17:07] like a like a great idea, could be

[1:17:09] expensive. Um, if kids are shooting up

[1:17:12] our city and they're not being held for

[1:17:16] doing so, uh, if they cut off their

[1:17:18] ankle monitor, their very expensive

[1:17:20] ankle monitor, uh, what what's the

[1:17:23] punishment for that? I I would argue

[1:17:24] that shooting at someone is worse than

[1:17:26] cutting off an ankle monitor. So, if

[1:17:28] we're not holding kids or juveniles for

[1:17:30] shooting,

[1:17:32] >> uh we're going to have time for general

[1:17:33] comments later. Do you have any other

[1:17:35] questions?

[1:17:35] >> Yes, I do have another question. Um you uh you and the chief spoke about

[1:17:40] Augusta and legislation in statute. Uh

[1:17:43] what's the most uh can can you point out

[1:17:46] a couple statutes right now that you

[1:17:48] find make it difficult to um prosecute

[1:17:51] or hold some of these uh more serious

[1:17:54] violent offenders

[1:17:56] >> and don the juvenile offenders?

[1:17:59] >> Yeah. What could be changed that that is

[1:18:00] in place now that would help you do your

[1:18:02] job and protect the community a little

[1:18:03] bit more from your your job?

[1:18:05] >> Yeah. And so to be clear uh it is a

[1:18:08] system problem. Uh so when I was giving

[1:18:11] those examples, that's the system

[1:18:12] speaking. You did a very good job of

[1:18:15] making the argument we make when we're

[1:18:16] before the judge. Those are the

[1:18:18] arguments we make. Uh but those aren't

[1:18:20] necessarily the arguments that win. Uh

[1:18:23] the the statutes, as I said, I'd love uh

[1:18:27] for us to revisit the the competency

[1:18:30] statute. I think that's turning that's

[1:18:32] providing a lot of uh problems right now

[1:18:35] and I think it makes sense to revisit

[1:18:37] the language at the very least the

[1:18:39] requirements uh the detention uh so uh

[1:18:43] JCCOs are very limited in how they can

[1:18:46] detain somebody they're very strict

[1:18:48] criteria on what they can do uh to hold

[1:18:51] somebody that Lewon PD or any other PD

[1:18:54] picks up at 2 in the morning and if they

[1:18:55] don't meet that criteria uh they're sent

[1:18:57] back to the home not because the JCCO

[1:19:00] wants to, but because it's not within

[1:19:01] the statute for them to hold. So, that's

[1:19:03] something that we should look at. Uh, we

[1:19:05] have the ability to override them. Uh,

[1:19:08] and we do. We do it respectfully. We do

[1:19:10] it in communications. Uh, our

[1:19:13] prosecutors regularly will say the law

[1:19:15] enforcement will override them. Only

[1:19:17] problem is we only override them until

[1:19:19] the next hearing 48 hours later because

[1:19:22] then it's the same process. Uh, and if

[1:19:24] we haven't checked those boxes, we made

[1:19:26] the community safe for the weekend. uh

[1:19:29] in our opinion, but we haven't made any

[1:19:31] long-term gain. So maybe revisiting what

[1:19:33] that looks like. Uh maybe restructuring

[1:19:36] uh how a JCCO can give them more

[1:19:39] flexibility about detaining people

[1:19:41] initially. It's not just the gun

[1:19:43] charges. It's a kid out stealing a car

[1:19:45] and driving it and not stopping for law

[1:19:48] enforcement. uh and you pull them over

[1:19:50] and again that should be a felony but if they are released they're going right

[1:19:55] back to the home they just snuck out to steal the car. Uh so we should look

[1:20:00] at that statue. Uh I think a lot of

[1:20:02] statutes need to be looked at but

[1:20:06] um and then lastly real quick um so do

[1:20:09] these non-competitity

[1:20:11] non-competency

[1:20:12] tags uh definitions or so once a once a

[1:20:17] juvenile has had that that they're not

[1:20:19] competent does that follow them for

[1:20:21] further cases? So is that if if say it's

[1:20:24] a crime one deemed not competent when

[1:20:26] they come back if they come back say 3

[1:20:29] weeks later on another felony level or

[1:20:31] gunrelated or or not crime uh I imagine

[1:20:34] is that the first thing the defense

[1:20:35] attorney goes to is like this person is

[1:20:37] not competent is that does that hurt in

[1:20:40] future charges in future prosecutions

[1:20:43] >> I think if they're within the year of

[1:20:44] that finding it does

[1:20:46] >> okay

[1:20:47] >> but that's true of the adult system as

[1:20:49] well by the way

[1:20:50] >> so it's not on a case by case basis it

[1:20:52] stay with that defendant throughout

[1:20:54] multiple charges.

[1:20:56] >> Uh, usually if they have multiple

[1:20:58] charges, depending if I'm hearing you

[1:20:59] correctly, we would we would do it for

[1:21:00] all of them. They would all be dealt

[1:21:02] with as a as a global or as an aggregate

[1:21:05] sum.

[1:21:06] >> Thank you very much,

[1:21:09] >> Councelor Naene. Back to you.

[1:21:12] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to

[1:21:13] follow up uh on the competency uh piece

[1:21:16] as well. So, ju just to verify, if a

[1:21:18] juvenile is uh is deemed to be

[1:21:21] incompetent, that means they're

[1:21:22] incompetent to stand trial or they're

[1:21:25] incompetent to be held accountable

[1:21:28] through the criminal system.

[1:21:30] >> They're held incompetent to appear for a

[1:21:32] hearing to be part of a hearing.

[1:21:34] >> So, so a case that's brought forward for

[1:21:36] somebody who's decide when somebody has

[1:21:39] decided

[1:21:41] incompetent, they never actually go

[1:21:43] through a trial process at all. So

[1:21:45] there's no alternative sentencing or any

[1:21:47] of those pieces

[1:21:48] >> unless they re regain competency. There

[1:21:51] are things I think this goes back to DHS

[1:21:54] uh and again I'm not the expert as I

[1:21:57] should be because it's not a case load I

[1:21:58] regularly carry but I think there uh in

[1:22:01] the interim the judge does have the

[1:22:03] ability to order some DHS or involvement

[1:22:07] uh that would provide some uh some

[1:22:10] structure uh or treatment maybe things

[1:22:13] that might so if they're found

[1:22:14] incompetent but the uh the evaluator

[1:22:17] says these three things would might help

[1:22:20] them regain competency. Uh then a judge

[1:22:23] uh can uh order that they maybe have

[1:22:26] those uh treatment uh poss treatment uh

[1:22:31] options available to them. It doesn't

[1:22:33] mean they get them, but I think that's something the court uh might be a

[1:22:37] question for the court. I think that

[1:22:38] frustrates them some.

[1:22:40] >> Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm just

[1:22:42] very surprised that it actually stops

[1:22:44] the criminal justice system and then

[1:22:45] also doesn't force alternative

[1:22:47] treatment.

[1:22:48] >> It pardons it. Yeah, I think the

[1:22:50] language I use it pauses it. Y

[1:22:52] >> Thank you,

[1:22:55] Councelor Long Champs.

[1:22:56] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um,

[1:23:00] this is quite disturbing. Um, and it

[1:23:02] seems like that's

[1:23:04] >> Sorry, D. Mlan, do you mind turning off

[1:23:06] your mic while you're not speaking?

[1:23:08] Okay, thank you.

[1:23:09] >> It it appears as though that may be one

[1:23:12] of our biggest issues that we're running

[1:23:14] up against. So, I would ask um

[1:23:18] how do we go about trying to get a

[1:23:21] meeting with the right people to see how

[1:23:25] we can tweak some of these uh uh laws

[1:23:28] and policies. Uh again, I don't think

[1:23:31] this is something that should wait a

[1:23:32] year or two years. Uh I think this is

[1:23:35] something that if possible, um we get

[1:23:38] that meeting going right away. So, I I

[1:23:40] don't know how we can help as council uh

[1:23:42] to make that loud and clear, but I'm

[1:23:44] pretty much suggesting that loud and

[1:23:46] clear

[1:23:51] » if we can have the audience members uh

[1:23:53] refrain from speaking. We're going to

[1:23:55] have public comment later.

[1:23:58] >> So, we in the past, Lewon PD and and uh

[1:24:01] my office has met with our delegation in

[1:24:03] the past uh the Lewon uh delegation from

[1:24:06] Augusta and discussed things. I think we

[1:24:09] did some legislation for guns in school

[1:24:12] uh and Jake was a part of that as well.

[1:24:14] So, we've had success doing that. Uh so,

[1:24:16] we can meet with the delegation, but

[1:24:18] what we ultimately need to do is find

[1:24:20] someone within the legislature uh that

[1:24:23] is willing to uh propose a bill for that

[1:24:25] change. That's how I think we typically

[1:24:27] do it.

[1:24:32] » Thank you. Um, so that would be my

[1:24:35] suggestion is that we find someone that

[1:24:37] is willing to do that if that is our

[1:24:39] only path forward. Um, and uh, get that

[1:24:43] ball rolling because again that seems

[1:24:45] like that's a pretty big wall that's um,

[1:24:48] that's holding up a lot of um,

[1:24:50] accountability which is a serious

[1:24:52] problem and I really appreciate the

[1:24:55] statements that you said that

[1:24:56] accountability um, to me is a form of

[1:24:59] caring about someone. um if we continue

[1:25:03] to

[1:25:04] um let these juveniles um

[1:25:09] in my opinion fall through the cracks

[1:25:11] because we're not holding them

[1:25:12] accountable is showing them really that that we don't care. Um so thank

[1:25:18] you.

[1:25:20] >> Uh further questions from the council

[1:25:26] » DA. Thank you so much for being here. We

[1:25:27] appreciate you.

[1:25:31] We will now hear from uh our very own

[1:25:39] Superintendent Jin Lingless. If you can

[1:25:40] please join us.

[1:25:55] Let's start by saying thank you to

[1:25:56] everyone for being here. um being

[1:25:58] mindful of time. I think community voice

[1:26:00] is incredibly important. Um I was

[1:26:02] looking over my slides as we as we were

[1:26:04] listening. So without being repetitive,

[1:26:06] I've removed a number of things, but if

[1:26:08] anyone has questions uh following or

[1:26:10] down the road, please feel free to reach

[1:26:11] out to me. Uh but I do want to be

[1:26:13] mindful of time.

[1:26:15] I want to start by saying we can't give

[1:26:17] up on our kids. Um they are the most

[1:26:19] proximate to their choices and we have

[1:26:21] to remember that. um there there's no

[1:26:24] place to send people that it just fixes

[1:26:26] everything. Uh so we have to be mindful

[1:26:30] also that kids influence each other more

[1:26:32] than you may realize. I know from a

[1:26:34] school perspective we hear a lot from

[1:26:36] kids who have seen something who have

[1:26:38] said something. Uh and so it's it's a

[1:26:40] powerful tool. We're growing that in our

[1:26:42] community. We worked with LPD on it uh

[1:26:44] as well.

[1:26:46] And that research tells us uh done a lot

[1:26:48] of looking lately that success can be

[1:26:51] found in communities that are facing

[1:26:52] these kinds of challenges through

[1:26:53] multis- sector collaboration amongst all

[1:26:56] uh all of us everyone in the room

[1:26:58] families uh from parenting all the way

[1:26:59] up through schools businesses and

[1:27:01] others.

[1:27:03] I do want to talk about some of the

[1:27:05] lines that we can draw as a school and

[1:27:08] I'll I'll spare the legislation

[1:27:09] conversation but whoever gets elected I

[1:27:11] have a number of things I'd love to

[1:27:12] submit for legislation. Um but just to

[1:27:14] start with what lines can a school hold?

[1:27:17] Um we became frustrated uh the school

[1:27:20] committee uh and I and and city uh

[1:27:23] school leadership with the fact that

[1:27:25] there's been a number of tools stripped

[1:27:27] away from us. Uh but there's there's the

[1:27:30] one tool that remains is that you can

[1:27:32] take kids uh through a due process um

[1:27:35] that has intervention layers at school,

[1:27:37] intervention layers uh with me and then

[1:27:40] ultimately you can take kids to what is

[1:27:41] considered a quasi judicial process

[1:27:44] which is a disciplinary hearing with the

[1:27:46] school committee. There's a number of

[1:27:47] steps involved. Um, but anytime there is

[1:27:50] a firearm or a serious violent incident

[1:27:52] that connects to our kids and I have to

[1:27:55] think of the kids sitting sitting next

[1:27:57] to maybe one of your students in math

[1:27:58] class on Tuesday after being released.

[1:28:01] We've decided that that's not an option.

[1:28:03] And so we have uh taken steps to draw

[1:28:05] those lines. It's not perfect. I don't

[1:28:08] think expelling a student fixes

[1:28:10] everything. Uh but I do think we need to

[1:28:12] have lines and we'll continue to work

[1:28:14] through that. When students are expelled

[1:28:17] from Lewis public schools, there is an

[1:28:19] opportunity for a re-entry plan and we

[1:28:21] have not given up on that investment.

[1:28:24] And so I wanted to share that it's nice

[1:28:27] to say that we draw a line, but it

[1:28:29] doesn't fix any problems. Uh and so we

[1:28:32] continue to work with specific re-entry

[1:28:34] plans with kids that we develop together

[1:28:35] with them knowing their full situation.

[1:28:38] Uh there are volunteer requirements,

[1:28:40] counseling requirements often. Uh we do

[1:28:42] have opportunities for teaching and

[1:28:43] learning and and share some uh novel

[1:28:46] experiences with community partners and

[1:28:48] there there's still an opportunity for

[1:28:49] some kids to earn at least a limited

[1:28:51] amount of credit because we don't want

[1:28:52] them to just work on self and lose full

[1:28:55] progress on school because what happens

[1:28:56] is they'll drop out and we've just

[1:28:59] reinvented the same issue uh likely down

[1:29:01] the road.

[1:29:04] But also note that some kids have done

[1:29:07] something or things that's gotten them

[1:29:09] to a point where they have work to do

[1:29:11] before they can even access the re-entry

[1:29:12] plan. So it's not really common

[1:29:14] knowledge unless you're living it as a

[1:29:16] student or if maybe you're a school

[1:29:17] committee member who's held the line. Um

[1:29:19] but there are steps to these processes

[1:29:21] and we do um work hard to hold those

[1:29:24] lines.

[1:29:26] I also want to share some things that

[1:29:27] I'm hearing.

[1:29:31] I had a kid tell me recently who was

[1:29:32] involved in a firearm incident, which I

[1:29:34] have a a unique role in which I get to

[1:29:36] talk to them as as students and try to

[1:29:39] figure out what's the next best thing

[1:29:40] for them. And I'm also the person who

[1:29:42] makes the decision whether or not they

[1:29:43] go to a disciplinary hearing, but I do

[1:29:45] try to build relationships with the kids

[1:29:47] and and really just talk about what's

[1:29:48] going on in your world and try to

[1:29:49] navigate and problem solve everything

[1:29:51] that we can. But I had a kid tell me

[1:29:53] recently who was involved in a firearm

[1:29:54] incident that the way he gets guns is he

[1:29:56] profiles vehicles. He looks for things

[1:29:59] that are unlocked. He's not stealing

[1:30:01] money. He's not anything else. Just look

[1:30:02] for a firearm. But he said he'll look

[1:30:04] for trucks. And trucks are commonly

[1:30:06] unlocked. And people with trucks are

[1:30:09] more likely to have guns. This kid is

[1:30:11] 12.

[1:30:13] years old. He told me this.

[1:30:16] So, please lock up your firearms. Don't

[1:30:18] leave them in your vehicles. Get them

[1:30:20] locked up and put away.

[1:30:23] Everyone's posting with the guns. We're

[1:30:25] seeing this uh rampantly through

[1:30:26] schools. It causes a lot of issues as

[1:30:28] others have mentioned. Um, and so if if

[1:30:32] everyone's posing with a gun or

[1:30:34] something that looks like a gun, others

[1:30:37] want to also look that cool, feel that

[1:30:39] awesome, have that sense of adequacy.

[1:30:41] It's a problem. Some of those kids are

[1:30:43] posing with a pellet gun or a BB gun and

[1:30:46] others are po posing with 45s,

[1:30:49] handguns that can take someone's life.

[1:30:51] Absolutely.

[1:30:54] I had one kid tell me that he shoots

[1:30:56] buildings because an adult told him to.

[1:30:59] And I say, "We need to find out who

[1:31:00] these adults are that are taking

[1:31:01] advantage of our kids." And I'm talking

[1:31:04] intentionally taking advantage of our

[1:31:06] kids. Not just any kid. Usually kids

[1:31:08] that have a low cognitive ability who

[1:31:10] really want to fit in anywhere they can.

[1:31:12] They're carrying guns and they're

[1:31:13] carrying out tasks for other people who

[1:31:15] are asking them to do it. So they feel

[1:31:17] cool. So they feel awesome. They have no

[1:31:19] intentions of killing someone, but if

[1:31:21] they can light up a building at 1:00 in

[1:31:23] the morning and people think they're

[1:31:25] awesome for doing it, they'll do it. We

[1:31:27] need to continue to track this and solve

[1:31:29] these problems. I've also had kids tell

[1:31:31] me they just don't feel safe. We've had

[1:31:33] kids that we've we've had to search and

[1:31:35] take things off of. Never firearm in the

[1:31:37] school, but we do search and we've done

[1:31:39] many searches. Um, but often times we

[1:31:42] find kids with a knife. Why are you

[1:31:44] carrying a knife at school?

[1:31:46] It's because I don't feel safe when I'm

[1:31:47] walking to or from school. And so these

[1:31:49] are concerns that we we we just can't

[1:31:51] allow it.

[1:31:55] Something that humbled me recently that

[1:31:56] I want to share with the entire group.

[1:31:58] There's an old approach to instead of

[1:32:00] saying hello or hi, how are you? Uh and

[1:32:03] I forget where this came from and I

[1:32:04] apologize to wherever this originated

[1:32:06] from, but the greeting was how are the

[1:32:09] kids doing?

[1:32:10] And it made me pause.

[1:32:13] Imagine if everywhere we went in our

[1:32:14] community, we said to each other, "How

[1:32:16] are the kids doing?" Because if they're

[1:32:18] not okay, we have a lot of work to do.

[1:32:21] And if they are okay, then we have to

[1:32:22] maintain that effort.

[1:32:27] I'm an educator, so you're going to hear

[1:32:28] it from me. I do have thoughts.

[1:32:30] Obviously, ensure healthy relationships

[1:32:32] exist. Start by talking to the kids.

[1:32:35] They're the ones most proximate to it,

[1:32:36] and it's not a ton of kids. I know that

[1:32:39] I I live in a world where there's a lot

[1:32:40] of stereotypes of those kids, those

[1:32:42] people. It's not that. It's it's

[1:32:44] actually a little more mixed than you

[1:32:46] think. Uh not not making accusations,

[1:32:48] but a little more mixed than a lot of

[1:32:50] people think. And it's a relatively

[1:32:52] small group of kids. And I think we need

[1:32:54] to build in more sense of adequacy in

[1:32:56] our community where kids can develop

[1:32:58] their identity and and grow through

[1:33:00] that. We need to find a way to wrap

[1:33:02] around supports. As Neil mentioned, uh

[1:33:04] we know the high-risisk kids who have

[1:33:05] been involved in numerous numerous

[1:33:07] things. And so from Chief and Neil and

[1:33:09] others that are going to speak tonight,

[1:33:10] we need to find a way to wrap supports

[1:33:12] around those kids uh and do something

[1:33:15] differently.

[1:33:16] And then I challenge everyone to take 10

[1:33:18] good minutes to get to know a kid that

[1:33:20] you don't already know because it's

[1:33:22] worth it when you sit and talk with a

[1:33:24] kid who might be troubled who might be a

[1:33:25] great kid might change your your

[1:33:27] perception of that kid or a specific

[1:33:30] population that that are our neighbors

[1:33:32] but 10 good minutes talking with a kid.

[1:33:34] I learned a lot about a kid who got shot

[1:33:35] recently.

[1:33:37] It was a great conversation

[1:33:39] but he was there and that happens.

[1:33:45] I'll take questions. Uh again, I took

[1:33:47] some slides out. One thing I'd like to

[1:33:49] mention before I take any questions

[1:33:50] though, the working relationship that we

[1:33:52] have as a school system with Neil and

[1:33:54] Lewis Police Department and our JCCOs's

[1:33:57] is without its flaws. We talk all the

[1:34:01] time. Whenever we need something, we

[1:34:02] talk to each other. We communicate.

[1:34:04] There are limitations and constraints

[1:34:05] because of rights and and and whatnot,

[1:34:07] but um we work together all the time.

[1:34:12] >> Thank you very much, Superintendent. I

[1:34:13] appreciate you being here. Councelor

[1:34:18] Martell, we're starting with you.

[1:34:23] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, uh,

[1:34:25] Superintendent. Um,

[1:34:29] why don't I write down I have a question

[1:34:31] here. Um,

[1:34:35] you know, I'll hold it for now. Um,

[1:34:37] thank you very much for your

[1:34:38] presentation. I appreciate what you do

[1:34:39] in the schools.

[1:34:42] >> Councelor Chidum, no questions. Thank

[1:34:44] you, Mr. Mayor.

[1:34:46] >> Uh, councelor Noble,

[1:34:48] >> nothing.

[1:34:50] >> Councelor Roy,

[1:34:54] um, one of the questions uh, that I

[1:34:56] have, are there any incentives for maybe

[1:34:59] some teachers to build up some pickup

[1:35:01] sports after school? Um, can we look

[1:35:03] into something like that that helps

[1:35:05] maybe keep kids in a good activity after

[1:35:08] school? [gasps]

[1:35:10] >> The easy answer is yes. Uh it it does

[1:35:13] take money in space, but we have

[1:35:14] afternoon uh programming that goes uh

[1:35:17] well into when community partners have

[1:35:19] kids in their spaces um and they're

[1:35:21] keeping kids uh later in the evening.

[1:35:23] And so I think the key is getting kids

[1:35:27] that need that thing to do in the space

[1:35:29] where it's already happening. I think

[1:35:30] the city's done a good job committing

[1:35:31] resources. I know we as a school system

[1:35:33] have continued to seek grants and the

[1:35:34] school committee has supported after

[1:35:36] school programming and summer related uh

[1:35:38] programming. So I think it could always

[1:35:40] get better. Um, I do look at things like

[1:35:42] some of our sports teams. The numbers

[1:35:44] are just abysmally low. Um, and and I

[1:35:46] think that's a maybe a generational

[1:35:48] thing. Like it's it's it's way more

[1:35:50] interesting to make sure your your posts

[1:35:52] are active and you know what's going on

[1:35:54] with everyone than it is to be on a

[1:35:55] practice field and and be two hours

[1:35:57] without it. But just another notice to

[1:35:59] everyone that there'll be no cell phones

[1:36:00] in the high school next year. That's a law that's been passed and we

[1:36:03] move forward with that.

[1:36:06] I I do think that would be helpful. But

[1:36:08] I I agree. We we just got to get kids

[1:36:10] engaged. When I talk about sense of

[1:36:11] adequacy, I I really mean it can be

[1:36:13] almost anything. If you build a

[1:36:15] birdhouse or a foot stool or something

[1:36:18] and you can bring it home and be like, I

[1:36:20] did this [snorts] that matters. And our

[1:36:22] kids right now, they're stuck to their

[1:36:23] phones and they're not doing those

[1:36:25] things. And so their sense of adequacy

[1:36:27] is how awesome did someone or how many

[1:36:28] likes did they have or it's it's so

[1:36:31] superficial like we got to get deeper

[1:36:32] with our kids.

[1:36:34] >> Thank you for that. I actually have that

[1:36:36] with um businesses maybe sponsoring an

[1:36:39] internship or a mentorship with some of

[1:36:41] the stuff that they do within the comm

[1:36:43] uh the community. One of the other

[1:36:45] questions I have is in in uh have we

[1:36:48] looked into why

[1:36:50] um when we expel youth and all that

[1:36:53] stuff, are we looking deeper into why

[1:36:56] youth are are going down that hole and

[1:36:59] maybe trying to figure out how to

[1:37:01] prevent others from going down that?

[1:37:06] >> So the short answer is yes, the long

[1:37:08] answer is really long. Every kid is an

[1:37:10] individualized uh scenario. Um, one

[1:37:14] thing that I want to really spend more

[1:37:15] time on if there are researchers in the

[1:37:17] room, and I know Bates has been helpful

[1:37:18] with this kind of conversation, is

[1:37:21] second generation

[1:37:23] males especially,

[1:37:25] seem to have um a different kind of need

[1:37:28] to please their peers than than I've

[1:37:31] seen before. And so I want to know more

[1:37:33] about that. But those kids are also role

[1:37:35] models for their younger siblings. And I I want to understand that that

[1:37:39] influence and how that that's happening.

[1:37:41] we are seeing uh you know for for better

[1:37:44] or worse I've been in administration in

[1:37:45] Lewis public school since 2012. So in

[1:37:48] that time frame I've spent a lot of time

[1:37:50] with with kids who are now the adults

[1:37:52] that Neil's mentioning the young adults

[1:37:53] and their siblings who are some of them

[1:37:55] currently in school. So I know a lot

[1:37:57] about the family dynamics and and it it

[1:38:00] all plays in. Um, but I will say this,

[1:38:02] all the things we can identify, for the

[1:38:04] vast vast majority of them, we're not

[1:38:07] filling what their needs are. From

[1:38:09] counseling to,

[1:38:11] you know, trauma to adequacy, you name

[1:38:14] it. Um, there's a lot going on,

[1:38:22] » test,

[1:38:24] can you hear me now?

[1:38:30] testing test came back there. Okay.

[1:38:36] >> All right. Um couple more um things that

[1:38:39] I thought about. I'm glad you touched

[1:38:40] upon Bates College maybe, you know,

[1:38:43] partnering up with Bates College to

[1:38:44] invest a little bit in the community

[1:38:46] with the school system to try to build

[1:38:48] those after school programs and all that

[1:38:50] stuff too. I think that's something that

[1:38:52] I was thinking about. Um let's see.

[1:38:59] that'll uh how about peerto-peer

[1:39:01] peer-to-p peer homework help you know

[1:39:03] stuff like that because again if we get

[1:39:06] a lot of our youth engaging with other

[1:39:09] youth maybe work habits and you know

[1:39:12] healthy boundaries and all that stuff

[1:39:14] maybe that might be a way to go too.

[1:39:17] Yeah, all good ideas. Happy happy to

[1:39:20] explore those.

[1:39:22] >> Councelor Haramman,

[1:39:24] >> I don't have any questions right now.

[1:39:26] Thanks,

[1:39:27] >> Councelor Long Champs.

[1:39:29] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, Mr. Langless, uh,

[1:39:33] do we still have truent officers?

[1:39:36] >> So, the question was, do we have truency

[1:39:38] officers? And and so the answer to that

[1:39:40] question is no, but yes. So, we used to

[1:39:43] have a dedicated person u many years ago

[1:39:45] that this is part of what they did as a

[1:39:47] job. Um now it's it's morphed to uh

[1:39:50] school administrators. Uh oftentimes

[1:39:52] we'll go with an SRO to try to contact a

[1:39:54] kid we've been missing for a while. Um a

[1:39:56] truency is a a serious problem. Um and

[1:39:58] when I talk a whole community, I don't

[1:40:00] mean just it takes everybody for that

[1:40:01] afternoon on the field. I mean the the

[1:40:04] standards that we hold for each other

[1:40:06] are incredibly important and kids are

[1:40:07] watching all the time. And so when they

[1:40:09] feel safe because people are drawing

[1:40:10] lines, they they'll behave that way.

[1:40:13] It's it's it's a really interesting

[1:40:14] piece at least more so um as it relates

[1:40:17] to truency, it's just I'm trying to

[1:40:19] connect the two because if you're not

[1:40:21] going to school and having a responsible

[1:40:23] routine for yourself or as a parent

[1:40:25] making sure your kids get to that space,

[1:40:28] we're missing big pieces of why kids

[1:40:30] often start misbehaving in school

[1:40:32] because they feel lost academically. And

[1:40:35] so it that's another piece is community

[1:40:37] effort. I I'd love to see chronic

[1:40:39] absenteeism and truency be reduced, but

[1:40:41] it's going to take everybody to be like,

[1:40:42] "Hey, why aren't you in school? It's not acceptable that you're not."

[1:40:46] And and that's going to take a parent

[1:40:48] getting up, right? Like so many of us in

[1:40:50] this room have kids that have are still

[1:40:52] growing or have grown. And you know, I'm

[1:40:55] a superintendent. This morning, my kid

[1:40:57] was here to do a workout uh as a summer

[1:41:00] program. He did not get up the first

[1:41:02] time I knocked on the door. He did not

[1:41:03] get up the second time. He got up the

[1:41:05] third time when I ripped a blanket off

[1:41:06] of him. But that's that's my job you as

[1:41:09] a dad, right? Because he's going at 7

[1:41:11] o'clock for workouts. But but that's my

[1:41:14] job as a dad. And we have a lot of kids

[1:41:15] that their parents,

[1:41:17] they don't even know that that's a

[1:41:19] thing. They they don't realize that

[1:41:21] there's something at 7:00 tomorrow

[1:41:22] morning that their kids should be there

[1:41:24] for and they're definitely not getting

[1:41:25] them up for it. So we got to do better

[1:41:26] across the board.

[1:41:28] >> Uh thank you. Um so we don't have a

[1:41:31] truency uh officer. We are hopeful that

[1:41:36] the parents will do a better job and I

[1:41:38] am hopeful too and I know how critical

[1:41:39] that is but the reality is it's not

[1:41:42] happening.

[1:41:43] So I think we need a truency officer

[1:41:47] um to make sure that if a kid uh is not

[1:41:51] attending school after so many days

[1:41:54] they're the ones uh knocking on their

[1:41:56] door like we had uh years ago. I think

[1:41:59] that was uh very useful and very helpful

[1:42:02] from what I could uh see.

[1:42:05] The second question I have um

[1:42:09] the small group of individuals that you

[1:42:13] were um

[1:42:16] saying uh you know are basically the

[1:42:19] ones committing these uh the gun

[1:42:21] violence.

[1:42:25] Are they in school that you know of or

[1:42:27] are they kids that um are not currently

[1:42:32] going to school? Well, not this summer,

[1:42:34] but

[1:42:35] >> I I looked over some things. I I think I

[1:42:37] have my my data accurate, but I'd have

[1:42:39] to dig some more. I believe there's been

[1:42:41] one student that's had anything gun

[1:42:43] rellated in the last two years that was

[1:42:45] not already expelled from school for

[1:42:47] other violent acts.

[1:42:50] The other thing I would just suggest,

[1:42:52] um, and I'd like to ask you if you think

[1:42:54] it would be helpful, and it seems as

[1:42:56] though the answer is probably going to

[1:42:57] be yes, I hope. Um, it seems like when

[1:43:00] you identify kids that are struggling

[1:43:03] and, you know, may go down a path, uh,

[1:43:06] we need some sort of system to prevent

[1:43:09] uh any anything further from happening.

[1:43:13] Um, and I don't mean just an

[1:43:15] organization that comes up tomorrow and

[1:43:17] says, "Oh, I'll be great at it." so they

[1:43:19] can get a ton of money or uh but I think

[1:43:22] we need real professional people, case

[1:43:25] management people um once the school

[1:43:28] identifies uh the students to step in uh

[1:43:32] I believe that would be really helpful.

[1:43:35] Um we we can't lose sight of of helping

[1:43:37] these uh young people. Thank you. I

[1:43:40] >> I would agree. Just just real quickly if

[1:43:43] someone called me tomorrow and said, "We

[1:43:44] have this program. What kids do you

[1:43:46] think should be in it?" There's there's

[1:43:47] plenty of people in this room that could

[1:43:48] probably tell you exactly who could

[1:43:50] benefit from additional supports, but we

[1:43:52] do need the system and the resources.

[1:43:54] And from a truency officer perspective,

[1:43:55] I want folks to know that we mail a

[1:43:57] letter to parents and we let them know

[1:43:58] after 10 absences that your your your

[1:44:01] child is truent and that if you don't

[1:44:04] send your student to school, you'll be

[1:44:05] fined up to $250. We have to submit the

[1:44:08] language to the district attorney's

[1:44:10] office who is already 700 cases behind.

[1:44:13] and to prioritize a truency case for a

[1:44:15] $250 fine is not making the priority

[1:44:18] list. That's not on them. That's just a

[1:44:19] reality. I just want to share that

[1:44:20] upfront with people.

[1:44:22] >> Councelor Long Champs, did you have

[1:44:24] something else?

[1:44:24] >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor. So, uh what I

[1:44:26] would just say to that is

[1:44:29] we probably just need a truency officer

[1:44:31] that can go knock on the door after a

[1:44:33] few days of making no uh you know,

[1:44:35] having no contact with this kid so that

[1:44:37] they can see what condition they're

[1:44:39] living in or what is going on. And then

[1:44:40] DHS needs to do a better job at helping

[1:44:43] also. Thank you.

[1:44:46] >> Uh any further? Councelor Nene, did you

[1:44:49] have something?

[1:44:51] >> I did. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, um how

[1:44:54] many uh students have been expelled uh

[1:44:56] this year?

[1:44:59] » This year, I think we're approaching 15.

[1:45:03] >> 15. And um were all the expulsions based

[1:45:06] on violent acts?

[1:45:14] Yeah, I yes, all violent acts. Um, but I

[1:45:16] do want to clarify too, um, we've

[1:45:19] crossed a bridge. So, I don't know if

[1:45:20] the legal team wants to block their

[1:45:21] ears, but we we crossed a bridge as a

[1:45:23] school system and said even if the

[1:45:25] violent act happens outside of school,

[1:45:27] but it has the opportunity to disrupt

[1:45:30] the peace and use of the school itself,

[1:45:32] we are still carrying that forward.

[1:45:34] We're not we're not waiting for it to

[1:45:35] happen at school. If it happens, it

[1:45:37] happened. and we're taking action on

[1:45:39] that.

[1:45:40] >> Okay. And just as a followup on that,

[1:45:42] what is LPS's responsibility for

[1:45:44] placement of that child in an

[1:45:46] educational system once they are

[1:45:47] expelled from school?

[1:45:51] So, in statute, you have limited

[1:45:52] responsibilities. Um, if there's an IEP,

[1:45:54] you have some instructional obligations.

[1:45:56] If you if they do not have an IEP, your

[1:45:58] responsibility to have a re-entry plan.

[1:46:00] We go beyond that and provide supports

[1:46:02] to to try to maintain opportunities for

[1:46:04] volunteering, experiences, learning,

[1:46:06] counseling. Um, but that's all off-site.

[1:46:08] They're not allowed on school grounds.

[1:46:11] Thank you. And the last question that I

[1:46:12] have just to follow up with all of those

[1:46:14] pieces is what are the processes in

[1:46:16] which we uh as a school system identify

[1:46:19] at risk youth and what tools are we

[1:46:21] using in order to avoid the expulsion

[1:46:25] which then uh and I'm just going to use

[1:46:27] this framework but in most cases um

[1:46:32] unless there's incredible engagement

[1:46:34] from the parents of of that youth uh

[1:46:38] basically throws that kid away. Um so

[1:46:41] there's there's traditional constructs

[1:46:43] to identify at risk grades, attendance,

[1:46:46] uh skipping tardies, things of that

[1:46:48] nature. Um we go beyond that with with

[1:46:50] some of our systems with uh behavioral

[1:46:52] analysis, uh trajectory or projection to

[1:46:55] graduate or not or and what where you're

[1:46:57] at in that pace. There's a there's a

[1:46:59] metric for that in our system. But we've

[1:47:01] also done some things that are not

[1:47:02] traditional. Um our SRO's have done some

[1:47:04] great things in the schools. I it's

[1:47:07] interesting to see in the schools. And I

[1:47:08] know some people have bigger feelings

[1:47:09] about SRO's um in a different light, but

[1:47:12] I watch our SRO's get fist bumps and

[1:47:14] hugs and all kinds of things in our

[1:47:16] schools and I think that's an important

[1:47:17] step that we've taken. Um we also have

[1:47:20] been working with um the community based

[1:47:22] organizations who have brought staff

[1:47:24] into our schools. So kids who have like

[1:47:26] a hot spot moment, they can go see

[1:47:27] someone. Um, you're going to hear from

[1:47:29] Duncan, so I'm sure he'll talk about

[1:47:30] some of the things that he's done in

[1:47:31] collaboration with with school and kids

[1:47:33] who are facing or have faced

[1:47:35] consequences with with school and

[1:47:37] community. Um, so we're we're looking to

[1:47:39] fold in as many people as we can and

[1:47:40] break down the barrier of it's a school,

[1:47:43] so you can't do that here. We're saying

[1:47:44] it's a school. How can you help us uh

[1:47:46] get in front of some of these

[1:47:47] situations?

[1:47:49] >> So ultimately, you're providing

[1:47:50] additional resources outside of family

[1:47:52] and recovery courts, which are clearly

[1:47:54] are not either either not functioning in

[1:47:56] this

[1:47:58] uh in this state or or or not fully

[1:48:01] functioning.

[1:48:02] >> Yes.

[1:48:03] >> Okay. Thank you.

[1:48:06] >> Uh superintendent, uh you mentioned 15

[1:48:08] students have been expelled this year.

[1:48:10] Uh can you give us a breakdown based on

[1:48:12] school? Were most of those in the high

[1:48:13] school or were some in elementary or

[1:48:15] middle?

[1:48:16] >> It's a great question. So, you cannot

[1:48:17] expel a student who is fifth grade or

[1:48:20] lower unless there's a gun rellated

[1:48:21] incident. Um we've had only one

[1:48:24] expulsion this year. Uh that was uh it

[1:48:27] was actually a fifth grader. So for the

[1:48:28] younger ages, everything else has been

[1:48:30] middle and high school. And that's

[1:48:32] really about the constraints. I there's we've had some situations with

[1:48:36] very young kids that they're not gun

[1:48:38] related. Um but we have

[1:48:41] I I'll say this if if the next session

[1:48:43] is willing to hear some language around

[1:48:44] some things we might be able to do as a

[1:48:46] school system to help mitigate, I have

[1:48:47] ideas.

[1:48:50] >> Thank you. Uh further questions uh from

[1:48:52] the council.

[1:48:55] Superintendent, thank you very much for

[1:48:57] being here.

[1:49:02] We are now going to hear from the New

[1:49:04] Beginnings executive director, Chris

[1:49:06] Bnau.

[1:49:12] Thank you for joining us, Director Bnau.

[1:49:16] >> Thank you for inviting me. Um, I was

[1:49:18] invited here because of my experience

[1:49:20] and expertise in systems and funding.

[1:49:23] And so that's primarily what I'm going

[1:49:25] to talk about. Um I believe that the

[1:49:27] responsibility for solving this problem,

[1:49:30] the financial problem of getting money

[1:49:33] to resolve this sits with state and

[1:49:35] local officials, period. Um

[1:49:40] I don't I do know that without

[1:49:42] significant investment in multiple

[1:49:45] different

[1:49:47] domains that this is not going to get

[1:49:50] resolved. And I did hear the mayor say

[1:49:52] that he has heard clearly from the

[1:49:54] citizens of Lon that he doesn't want

[1:49:57] municipal dollars being spent. If you

[1:49:59] don't want to spend money on this,

[1:50:01] you're not going to get a solution.

[1:50:02] That's just a reality. Um, one

[1:50:06] contributing factor to the inadequate

[1:50:07] response is that the city of Lewon does

[1:50:10] not have a public health department.

[1:50:11] This is a public health crisis. This is

[1:50:13] not a criminal justice crisis.

[1:50:15] These are children who are living in

[1:50:18] fear in the community and they are

[1:50:21] children. They are not juveniles.

[1:50:23] When a child witnesses a friend die,

[1:50:27] they do not they do not respond from a

[1:50:29] logical place. They do not respond from

[1:50:32] an adult thinking process. They are

[1:50:35] developmentally different from adults.

[1:50:37] They are incapable of making rational

[1:50:40] decisions about their behavior when they

[1:50:42] are in fear. Period.

[1:50:47] uh whether whether or not the city uh

[1:50:49] hires uh a public health official to

[1:50:52] kind of oversee this process is not in

[1:50:54] my power, but uh engaging with the main

[1:50:56] CDC and the office of injury and

[1:50:59] violence prevention and the children's

[1:51:00] cabinet are critical for this city to

[1:51:02] engage with. They have the capacity to

[1:51:06] engage in this conversation. Um to this

[1:51:09] end, I reached out to the children's

[1:51:10] cabinet. What I heard back from the

[1:51:12] children's cabinet's representative was

[1:51:14] they don't have discretionary dollars to

[1:51:17] invest in this. I personally have

[1:51:19] problem with that. These are state

[1:51:21] agencies that do have discretionary

[1:51:23] dollars that they're choosing to

[1:51:24] administer in different ways. And so I

[1:51:27] feel putting pressure on the state

[1:51:29] departments that have responsibility

[1:51:31] here. We're talking about the CDC,

[1:51:33] Department of Health and Human Services,

[1:51:34] Department of Public Safety. those

[1:51:37] departments have the capacity to make

[1:51:39] internal changes and assign personnel to

[1:51:42] different tasks uh to address this

[1:51:45] issue.

[1:51:48] Um if the children's cabinet in fact

[1:51:50] doesn't have any money and it's a dead

[1:51:52] end um there are pretty much two other

[1:51:55] courses of action to acquire this money

[1:51:57] maybe three. Uh one is the opioid

[1:52:00] response funds. The the state has spent

[1:52:02] 1.4 million of 3.4 4 million in opioid

[1:52:05] response funds. There's plenty of money

[1:52:07] there. The city has $631,22.18

[1:52:12] in unspent opioid response money that

[1:52:15] can be spent to help resolve this issue.

[1:52:17] Um the second option is uh seeking

[1:52:20] foundation and corporate support. Uh I

[1:52:23] don't think that any foundation or

[1:52:25] corporation would invest in something

[1:52:26] that this community is not willing to

[1:52:28] invest in itself. And so you need to get

[1:52:30] beyond the fact that you you don't want

[1:52:32] to spend money. there's a problem in

[1:52:34] this community that requires resources

[1:52:36] and that means money. Um

[1:52:40] the third access is there's something

[1:52:41] called the JJ, the juvenile justice

[1:52:43] advisory group and they have do have

[1:52:45] some discretionary grant funding and I

[1:52:48] haven't reached out to them personally

[1:52:50] but there are folks in the room who are

[1:52:51] connected as I am who will be looking at

[1:52:53] those dollars and the potential for some

[1:52:55] of those dollars to be addressing this

[1:52:57] situation. Those are the the three

[1:52:59] sources of money that I've been able to

[1:53:00] kind of research and find out there. Um

[1:53:04] my recommendation is that this community

[1:53:06] uh respond to this as a public health

[1:53:08] emergency and that it has uh a public

[1:53:11] safety component. Like I'm not denying

[1:53:13] that these children are shooting guns in

[1:53:16] the street. Like that has to stop.

[1:53:18] Absolutely has to stop. So there is a a

[1:53:20] public safety component to a public

[1:53:22] health crisis. Uh, and all of the issues

[1:53:27] and concerns around how do we detain

[1:53:30] kids or hold kids accountable, I think

[1:53:32] are all valid, but trying to treat

[1:53:35] children like adults is not a response

[1:53:37] that's going to get you the result

[1:53:38] you're looking for. Um, I think the city

[1:53:42] should immediately hire a director of

[1:53:43] public health to begin coordinating this

[1:53:45] response. U the city should uh

[1:53:48] immediately approach the children's

[1:53:50] cabinet and the CDC to ask formally for

[1:53:53] funds and resources. Uh the city should

[1:53:56] petition uh the state to release some of

[1:53:58] their opioid settlement funds. Uh and

[1:54:00] they should release some of their own

[1:54:02] opioid settlement funds. Um, I also

[1:54:04] think that there are community partners

[1:54:07] who are doing work with these young

[1:54:09] people in the community that are being

[1:54:12] effective, but they are doing it with

[1:54:14] existing resources that they are

[1:54:16] stretching to meet a grand need in this

[1:54:18] community. And if those community

[1:54:21] partners had funding, they could expand

[1:54:24] the response and go deep into community

[1:54:27] to help support the families and the

[1:54:29] siblings and the kids that are suffering

[1:54:32] here. This is about fear, children in

[1:54:34] fear. Um, and really there's someone had

[1:54:38] mentioned a a child and LA child and

[1:54:41] well-being collaborative. That's a

[1:54:42] really great group. There is a lot of

[1:54:44] brain power in that group. That group

[1:54:47] can create a strategy that the funding

[1:54:50] that is brought to bear can be used to

[1:54:53] effectively mitigate this problem. And

[1:54:56] that's kind of where I sit.

[1:55:00] >> Thank you very much, director. Uh we're

[1:55:02] going to take questions. We're going to

[1:55:03] start with councelor Nene.

[1:55:07] » At the moment I actually don't have any

[1:55:08] questions. U although I we're long

[1:55:11] overdue for a conversation.

[1:55:13] >> Thank you councelor Long Champs.

[1:55:17] >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Um so what I'm

[1:55:20] hearing from you is that it seems as

[1:55:21] though there's a funding issue. Um

[1:55:25] correct?

[1:55:27] >> Correct.

[1:55:28] >> Thank you. That's really all.

[1:55:31] >> Councelor Harman,

[1:55:35] >> thank you for being here. Um, I guess my

[1:55:37] question is in your work with New

[1:55:40] Beginnings, do you see much overlap

[1:55:42] between the youth that you serve and the

[1:55:45] youth who are involved in these

[1:55:46] activities or is it is it kind of

[1:55:49] separate groups of people and do you

[1:55:51] have any insights as to why the answer

[1:55:54] might be the way it is?

[1:55:57] uh we we see a slight amount of overlap.

[1:56:00] Our outreach team goes out throughout

[1:56:02] the city. Um but the young people who

[1:56:04] seek services at New Beginnings are not

[1:56:07] the young people who are involved in

[1:56:08] these activities. And so I'm I'm one

[1:56:11] step removed from this and that's why

[1:56:13] I'm not offering uh solutions because I

[1:56:15] am not a gun violence expert. Um and I

[1:56:18] do not primarily work in this particular

[1:56:21] neighborhood or community. And so I

[1:56:23] don't want to step on other people's

[1:56:24] toes who are much more deeply connected

[1:56:26] and understand the problem better than I

[1:56:27] do.

[1:56:29] >> Thank you,

[1:56:31] >> Council Roy.

[1:56:34] >> Thank you. Um I just want to say thank

[1:56:36] you for putting this together and taking

[1:56:39] the time to um to really dig deep and come up with your thoughts. Thank

[1:56:43] you,

[1:56:45] >> Councelor Noble.

[1:56:46] >> My questions were about the program, but

[1:56:49] he's not here to talk about that. So,

[1:56:53] >> councelor Chidum,

[1:56:56] thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, Mr. McNel,

[1:56:58] thank you very much for being here. Um,

[1:57:00] I appreciate your perspective that more

[1:57:03] money could help solve the problem. Um,

[1:57:06] thank you for your viewpoint.

[1:57:09] >> Councelor Martell.

[1:57:15] » Uh, yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um,

[1:57:20] I struggle to to square some of some of

[1:57:23] what you said. So, we just got done

[1:57:25] listening to the superintendent explain

[1:57:27] to us how a 12-year-old seems to be

[1:57:30] using pretty high level logical and

[1:57:32] deductive reasoning skills, figuring out

[1:57:34] where to best find a gun, whether that's

[1:57:36] in a pickup truck and whether they're

[1:57:38] unlocked or whatnot. um that that

[1:57:41] doesn't necessarily scream to me a a

[1:57:44] juvenile that's incompetent of making

[1:57:46] competent decisions is what I believe I

[1:57:48] wrote down what you said or or a child

[1:57:51] living in fear that seems like a

[1:57:53] criminal mindset

[1:57:55] that is uh reasoned and logic based and

[1:57:59] uh results driven. Um could you help me

[1:58:04] square those two things?

[1:58:07] >> Sure. I didn't say that children are not

[1:58:10] excellent creative problem solvers. I

[1:58:12] did not say that children who are backed

[1:58:14] into a corner and have no adult supports

[1:58:17] can't get their needs met by strategies

[1:58:20] that don't meet adult expectations. I

[1:58:23] see every day in my life children who

[1:58:26] have little to no support structure in

[1:58:29] their lives, who do the absolute best

[1:58:33] that they can to solve the problem that

[1:58:35] they are presented with and can argue me

[1:58:39] up and down until I am exhausted and can

[1:58:41] no longer keep up with their circular

[1:58:44] argument. That does not mean that they

[1:58:45] are developmentally

[1:58:47] thinking the way that adults do. The

[1:58:50] biology of children is very different

[1:58:52] from the biology of adults. The human

[1:58:54] brain does not finish developing in a

[1:58:56] female until age 24 and in a male until

[1:58:59] 26. At the age of 13 or 14, we are

[1:59:02] talking about children who are

[1:59:04] terrified. I don't know if anybody in

[1:59:05] here has seen a friend of theirs die in

[1:59:08] the streets before the age of 16. I

[1:59:10] have. My response was not rational. I

[1:59:13] was terrified. I had no adults in my

[1:59:15] life to protect me. I did what I did to

[1:59:17] protect myself out of fear so I wouldn't

[1:59:19] be the next one. I luckily survived

[1:59:22] that. These kids are facing the same

[1:59:24] thing. They don't know what the

[1:59:26] going on. They are doing what they can

[1:59:28] to keep themselves alive based on

[1:59:30] visceral reactions to horrible realities

[1:59:33] in the street.

[1:59:38] » I appreciate you coming tonight. I

[1:59:39] fundamentally disagree with everything

[1:59:41] you said.

[1:59:44] any uh and I appreciate your your

[1:59:47] fervor, but if we can uh refrain from

[1:59:50] profanity here, that would be great.

[1:59:51] >> I'm sorry. I apologize to everybody.

[1:59:53] >> You are good. Um further questions uh

[1:59:56] from the council.

[1:59:58] Director Bricknell, uh I appreciate your

[2:00:00] service to our city. Thank you so much

[2:00:02] and thank you for being here.

[2:00:09] We are now bringing up uh Duncan Pierre

[2:00:13] uh from Restorative Justice Project.

[2:00:15] Thank you so much for being here Duncan.

[2:00:27] » Good evening y'all. How you doing?

[2:00:30] Um, I'm here as a father and um as a

[2:00:35] husband even though I work for

[2:00:37] Restorative Justice Project. I'm

[2:00:38] actually on vacation, you know, sporting

[2:00:40] a t-shirt and shorts. Um, but I work

[2:00:43] with these young people in this

[2:00:44] community every single day. Um, and what

[2:00:47] I'm seeing is uh they don't lack for

[2:00:50] accountability. We live in a society

[2:00:52] that um enforces that. What I'm seeing

[2:00:55] is a lack of support. Um, as the

[2:01:00] superintendent mentioned, a lot of these

[2:01:02] youth are expelled. So, if I'm 12 or 13

[2:01:05] and um, I spend the day not in school

[2:01:09] and my parents are at work, the people

[2:01:11] are supposed to be supporting me, like

[2:01:12] what am I supposed to do? I find myself

[2:01:14] outside with another group of expelled

[2:01:17] kids. So, for me, um, I saw this coming

[2:01:21] few years ago and I thought to myself,

[2:01:23] how could I intervene? Even though, like

[2:01:25] I said, you know, I work with youth, I

[2:01:28] try to go above and beyond what I do

[2:01:30] just as a private citizen. And I think

[2:01:33] my call to action to the community would

[2:01:36] be to anybody who cares enough, cuz

[2:01:38] that's not going to be everybody, but if

[2:01:40] anybody who cares enough to want to come

[2:01:43] into the community and support these

[2:01:45] youth, um, as we're mentioned, we're

[2:01:47] talking about 29 youth, maybe in

[2:01:49] peripheral like 50.

[2:01:52] uh you know if took him to McDonald's,

[2:01:55] sat him down, had a conversation about

[2:01:57] like what's your life like? What's going

[2:01:59] on around you? You know, what are the

[2:02:01] things that you've seen and how has life

[2:02:02] impacted you? And I, you know, for me

[2:02:05] personally as my testimony um as a man

[2:02:08] of faith, there are things that, you

[2:02:10] know, I didn't know as a young child

[2:02:11] that I had to grow to understand. And it

[2:02:14] took people to come into my life to help

[2:02:16] and support me to get me where where I

[2:02:19] am today. And I'm very grateful for

[2:02:20] those people. And I'm hoping that as a

[2:02:23] community we can have some people

[2:02:26] because we don't have money. So we can

[2:02:28] wait for the money. We can wait for the

[2:02:29] legislators. That's going to take time.

[2:02:31] But as of right now, what we can do

[2:02:32] tomorrow, we can go out on the street

[2:02:35] and talk to some kids. We can try to

[2:02:37] take the effort to find out who they are

[2:02:39] and spend some time with them. Um today

[2:02:42] I was supporting some young people. Took

[2:02:44] them McDonald's. We were making a bench.

[2:02:46] You mean like there's so many things

[2:02:48] that we could potentially do within your

[2:02:50] scope and power of influence. So that's

[2:02:52] all I got to say. Thank you guys for

[2:02:54] giving me the time.

[2:02:58] » Thank you very much, Duncan. Uh we're

[2:03:01] going to start with uh Councelor

[2:03:02] Martell. Do you have uh questions?

[2:03:08] » No, thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[2:03:10] >> Councelor Chidum.

[2:03:13] Thank you, Mr. Pierre. No, I have no

[2:03:15] questions other than how do I get in

[2:03:17] touch with you?

[2:03:19] >> We will coordinate that. Councelor

[2:03:21] Noble,

[2:03:24] >> I don't have any questions at this time.

[2:03:27] >> Councelor Roy, councelor Chidum, uh be

[2:03:30] me to

[2:03:34] » uh councelor Herman. Yes,

[2:03:36] >> thank you for being here. Um I guess in

[2:03:39] your experience with the with the youth

[2:03:42] you work with, question.

[2:03:45] >> Uh, in your experience with the youth

[2:03:46] that you work with, do you see any any

[2:03:51] I'm sure there are some common threads

[2:03:54] that of things that they're

[2:03:56] experiencing. Um, are there any that you

[2:03:59] see that that we could just as a

[2:04:02] community be aware of to look for um and

[2:04:06] possibly support them through whatever

[2:04:10] challenges they're facing?

[2:04:13] Um what I would say is uh there's

[2:04:16] actually not a lack of resources that

[2:04:19] could help them, but it's a matter of

[2:04:21] are they engaging in those resources,

[2:04:23] right? So take an expelled kid who has a

[2:04:25] re-entry plan. Um how do we get them to

[2:04:28] engage in that re-entry plan that will

[2:04:30] actually help them get back in school?

[2:04:32] you know, what are the supports that

[2:04:34] they need to calm their body, calm their

[2:04:36] minds, you know, work through and heal

[2:04:38] through some of the trauma that they're

[2:04:39] experienced so that they can get to the

[2:04:40] point where, you know, they could go

[2:04:43] back to school, get an education, do the

[2:04:44] things that they need to succeed in

[2:04:46] life. Like, we have we know what they

[2:04:47] got to do. It's just a matter of helping

[2:04:48] them to do it. And, um, I don't think,

[2:04:52] this is my personal opinion, I don't

[2:04:54] think that is it lies on the

[2:04:56] professionals, you know. Um, I'm

[2:04:58] grateful for all you guys, but I'm

[2:05:00] hoping to plead to your humanity as

[2:05:02] people, not mayor, police commissioner,

[2:05:05] superintendent. Like, it's it's your

[2:05:07] humanity that cares for a 13-year-old

[2:05:09] who shoots a 14-year-old that says, "Yo,

[2:05:11] this ain't right. What can we do to

[2:05:14] intervene in their lives to help them?"

[2:05:16] And that is supporting them so that they

[2:05:18] can engage in the counseling and the

[2:05:21] school and the, you know, the the

[2:05:24] parenting.

[2:05:27] Thank you,

[2:05:30] >> councelor Long Champs.

[2:05:32] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, thank you for

[2:05:34] being here.

[2:05:37] >> I think it's going to take a lot of uh

[2:05:40] we're going to have to come up with lots

[2:05:41] of different ways to um there's many

[2:05:44] layers to this and you're absolutely

[2:05:46] right. Um, I see you almost every day at

[2:05:49] the store, uh, with a lot of the

[2:05:52] teenagers,

[2:05:53] um, that come in that I love dearly, uh,

[2:05:57] and that I think care about me, too. Um,

[2:05:59] but you're right, it is taking a moment.

[2:06:01] I will say that it does make a

[2:06:03] difference. And although we're here to

[2:06:06] really, uh, touch on gun violence, but,

[2:06:09] you know, a lot of the kids that are

[2:06:11] committing these crimes, uh, they don't

[2:06:14] have good mentors.

[2:06:16] And although we can sit here and say,

[2:06:18] "Well, it's not our responsibility.

[2:06:19] They're not our kids." Um, it is our

[2:06:23] responsibility. It doesn't take long.

[2:06:25] Um, I I'll share that I know it makes a

[2:06:28] difference and it is a part of

[2:06:32] um really getting to uh hopefully solve

[2:06:36] some of these bigger issues that we're

[2:06:38] having. So, I'm grateful that you spend

[2:06:40] so much time uh in the downtown area.

[2:06:44] I'm grateful that um you are a man of

[2:06:47] humanity and you really care about our

[2:06:50] youth and it is a large part of helping

[2:06:53] solve this problem. So thank you

[2:06:57] >> councelor Naene.

[2:07:00] >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Uh thank you for

[2:07:02] being here. Um one of the things that

[2:07:04] you brought up resonates completely. Um

[2:07:08] the piece that you're talking about with

[2:07:10] the 13 and the 14y old that was my

[2:07:12] neighborhood. Um,

[2:07:14] one of the things that I've heard

[2:07:16] repetitively, um, not only it's a

[2:07:20] question of fear, as as Superintendent

[2:07:24] Langlas had said, but it's a question of

[2:07:26] care, right? I've heard kids literally

[2:07:29] say, "Nobody cares if I carry a gun.

[2:07:32] Nobody cares where I'm at, what I'm

[2:07:35] doing at any given time." And so, I

[2:07:37] think you you've made a lot of good

[2:07:38] points. I think the challenge is

[2:07:41] getting kids to engage in systems that

[2:07:44] improve uh their lives, deal with the

[2:07:46] trauma that they're dealing with, all

[2:07:48] these other pieces. And unfortunately,

[2:07:50] we don't have a mandate to make that

[2:07:53] happen. And so, you're right, if more

[2:07:56] people cared, I think it's possible, but

[2:07:58] there has to be a way to to

[2:08:01] um

[2:08:03] let our kids know in our community that they are our kids and we do care

[2:08:06] about them, you know.

[2:08:11] Further uh further questions from the

[2:08:13] council.

[2:08:15] Duncan, thank you so much for being

[2:08:17] here.

[2:08:24] » We will now be joined by Christine uh

[2:08:26] Thibo uh who's also bringing a

[2:08:28] colleague. Uh they're both from the

[2:08:31] Department of Corrections. Uh if you can

[2:08:33] please introduce yourself uh once you're ready.

[2:08:46] » Good evening everyone. My name is

[2:08:47] Christine Tibo. I am the associate

[2:08:49] commissioner for the department of

[2:08:51] corrections division of juvenile

[2:08:52] services. Uh for those of you that

[2:08:55] aren't familiar with that branch of the

[2:08:56] department, we oversee

[2:08:59] Juvenile Community Corrections, which

[2:09:01] you've heard about a little this

[2:09:03] evening, and Long Creek Youth

[2:09:05] Development Center, which I'm sure

[2:09:06] you're all familiar with. Um but the big

[2:09:09] secret that I like to let out of the bag

[2:09:12] is that we also invest $4.6 $6 million

[2:09:15] in the community in many of the programs

[2:09:17] uh like mentoring uh restorative justice

[2:09:21] MST and FFT for the clinicians in the

[2:09:24] room things that we're hoping will keep

[2:09:27] youth out of the system as well. Um so that's what the division does, but

[2:09:31] I'll allow Jill to introduce herself as

[2:09:34] well.

[2:09:34] >> Thank you, Christine. My name is Jill

[2:09:37] O'Brien. I'm the director of government

[2:09:39] affairs for the Department of

[2:09:40] Corrections, which means I go to the

[2:09:42] legislative committee hearings where

[2:09:44] they're debating the bills that we were

[2:09:46] talking about. Um I there are bills that

[2:09:49] the department wants passed over the

[2:09:51] course of the session. Um and I work

[2:09:53] with all of the different divisions of

[2:09:55] corrections to identify what's working,

[2:09:58] what's not, and coordinate with other

[2:09:59] agencies. As Christine mentioned, the

[2:10:02] Department of Corrections is involved

[2:10:05] through our juvenile community

[2:10:06] corrections. So, juvenile probation is

[2:10:09] administered by the department of

[2:10:10] corrections in Maine. And we also run

[2:10:13] Long Creek Youth Development Center,

[2:10:15] which holds both detained and committed

[2:10:18] youth. So, detained youth are those that

[2:10:20] are going through the juvenile process,

[2:10:23] but no determination has been made yet

[2:10:25] as to whether they committed a juvenile

[2:10:27] crime or not. And then the committed are

[2:10:30] those who have been found to have

[2:10:32] committed the offense. And a judge has a

[2:10:34] few options. One of them is to commit

[2:10:36] the juvenile to Long Creek to the

[2:10:38] Department of Corrections custody and

[2:10:40] usually until a certain age, be it 18,

[2:10:43] 21, or for six or nine months, whatever

[2:10:45] period of time the court decides is

[2:10:47] appropriate.

[2:10:50] As Christine mentioned, uh we spent $4.6

[2:10:52] million statewide for community programs

[2:10:55] and over $1.4 million of that for region

[2:10:59] 2, the region that includes Lewon. And

[2:11:01] we fight every budget cycle to keep

[2:11:03] those programs going. It's not a matter

[2:11:06] of the state having a lot of money that

[2:11:08] they're just not giving out. The budget

[2:11:10] is tight there, too. And we we find this

[2:11:12] extraordinarily important and Christine

[2:11:14] has done a lot um and the department has

[2:11:16] done a lot to make sure those programs

[2:11:18] keep going.

[2:11:21] We heard about this meeting and we

[2:11:23] inserted ourselves because we think

[2:11:24] we're an important part of this process.

[2:11:26] And I think Christine can clear up

[2:11:28] there's some uh the juvenile court

[2:11:31] system is complicated and the

[2:11:34] determinations the judge makes about

[2:11:35] competence are based on experts opinions

[2:11:38] of competence. So without delving into

[2:11:41] the specifics of each case that's hard

[2:11:42] to do. Um and legislative changes are

[2:11:46] can be challenging and there's been a

[2:11:47] push over the last few years to have

[2:11:50] detention to be a a more difficult thing

[2:11:52] for a judge to order. And so that's a

[2:11:55] policy decision that you can all tell

[2:11:58] your legislators how you feel about it.

[2:12:03] So just to give you a little bit of my

[2:12:05] background, I've been working in Maine's

[2:12:07] juvenile justice system for 30 years.

[2:12:10] And I see juvenile justice as an art.

[2:12:13] And the art of juvenile justice is

[2:12:16] figuring out that individual kid. Much

[2:12:18] like Superintendent Langless said, each

[2:12:20] kid comes to us as an individual. Some

[2:12:23] of the youth we see I I would describe

[2:12:26] as normative delinquent behavior. I'm

[2:12:28] not going to ask you to raise your hand

[2:12:29] if you broke the law when you were a

[2:12:31] teenager, but statistics say most of us

[2:12:35] did and we were fine. Um those youth we

[2:12:40] like to divert. We don't believe they

[2:12:42] need the courts. Uh we don't believe

[2:12:44] they need expensive programming to fix

[2:12:47] problems that may not exist. So, we like

[2:12:49] to divert them with as light a touch as

[2:12:52] possible and we rely on our community-

[2:12:54] based organizations.

[2:12:56] Secondly, we see kids that aren't really

[2:12:59] risk of causing problems in the

[2:13:02] community, big problems, but they have

[2:13:05] huge needs. And you've heard others this

[2:13:08] evening talk about the needs, housing,

[2:13:11] poverty, um mental health, substance

[2:13:14] use, those challenges that we have uh

[2:13:17] that we see in the Department of

[2:13:18] Corrections. Those youth need a lot of

[2:13:21] services and support. Um but at the end

[2:13:25] of the day, they are not likely to be

[2:13:28] long-term recidivists.

[2:13:30] A small number. And I'm pleased to tell

[2:13:32] you that I think this is a minority of

[2:13:34] the youth that we see in juvenile

[2:13:36] justice are youth who are very high risk

[2:13:41] youth for reaffending. And that's part

[2:13:43] of our job is to do assessments and

[2:13:46] figure out what what's the youth before

[2:13:48] us. Is this a high needs kid? maybe DHS

[2:13:52] needs to do more. If there's a risk that youth is going to continue to be a

[2:13:57] uh a danger to themselves as well as all

[2:14:00] of you, we want to take a different

[2:14:02] approach and address those risks. And

[2:14:06] science tells us and there are programs

[2:14:08] that tell us what works. And so we're

[2:14:10] really trying to prioritize what we know

[2:14:13] works for those high-risisk kids. And

[2:14:15] you've heard it from uh from others

[2:14:17] before me. Mentoring

[2:14:20] um that is a big a big one. And

[2:14:23] engagement requires us to find the right

[2:14:26] people. Um although we may all want to

[2:14:28] reach out to the kids in Lewon and help,

[2:14:32] we know that there are individuals that

[2:14:34] are younger that are more um in line

[2:14:37] with their cultural backgrounds. They're

[2:14:41] going to be more effective. So we spend

[2:14:42] time trying to find the right kid, the

[2:14:45] right supports for the right youth in

[2:14:47] our mentoring programs. Restorative

[2:14:49] justice, um, Mr. Pierre works for

[2:14:51] Restorative Justice uh, Project of

[2:14:53] Maine. We help fund them. We actually

[2:14:56] have a contract with them to provide

[2:14:58] restorative justice for all of region 2,

[2:15:00] which includes uh, Lewon. We h have

[2:15:05] adopted new models of supervising youth

[2:15:08] and and we supervise DOC supervise youth

[2:15:11] from the point of arrest all the way

[2:15:13] until they leave the juvenile justice

[2:15:15] system. So if they're on conditions of

[2:15:17] release, if they're on probation, if

[2:15:19] they're at Long Creek, that juvenile

[2:15:21] community corrections officer is the

[2:15:24] constant most of the time, not always,

[2:15:26] but most of the time the constant

[2:15:28] through that youth's life. So we focus

[2:15:31] on uh JCCOs as coaches not referees. We

[2:15:37] want to provide supports. We want to

[2:15:39] provide incentives. We want to help

[2:15:42] reduce the risk by increasing strengths

[2:15:46] and assets. Um and we we also have

[2:15:50] family engaged CA case planning. That's

[2:15:53] part of the Annie Casey Foundation

[2:15:55] program that we're working with juvenile

[2:15:57] probation transformation. And it relies

[2:15:59] heavily on family engagement because we

[2:16:02] recognize that youth will always have

[2:16:05] their family. They'll always go back to

[2:16:07] their family. So, we need to work with

[2:16:09] them as a whole unit.

[2:16:12] Um, just to give you some some numbers,

[2:16:15] today there are 49 residents of Long

[2:16:17] Creek and there are a lot of myths and

[2:16:20] misconceptions about what happens at

[2:16:21] Long Creek. And I won't pretend that

[2:16:24] it's all wonderful, but there are good

[2:16:27] things that happen at Long Creek. 49 of

[2:16:29] the residents today, uh, of those 20 are

[2:16:33] committed, as Jill said, they are youth

[2:16:35] who've been adjudicated and sentenced to

[2:16:38] stay at Long Creek and do a

[2:16:39] rehabilitative program. And 29 of those

[2:16:43] youth are detained. And to circle back

[2:16:45] to a question that was answered earlier,

[2:16:47] are there limitations on how long a

[2:16:50] juvenile can be detained at Long Creek?

[2:16:53] Yes, but it's a very narrow limitation.

[2:16:55] If a youth is under age 12, which would

[2:16:58] basically be an 11year-old who's at Long

[2:17:01] Creek, that youth can only be detained

[2:17:04] more than seven days, uh, if both the

[2:17:07] prosecutor and the defense attorney

[2:17:08] agree. I'm happy to say we do not have

[2:17:12] any 11 year olds at Long Creek. We do

[2:17:15] have youth who've been there for a day

[2:17:17] and then they're released um by the

[2:17:20] courts or or sometimes by us and we have

[2:17:24] youth who've been there over well over a

[2:17:26] year. One of the benefits of Long Creek

[2:17:29] and this kind of ties in the competence

[2:17:31] issue. If even if a youth is in the

[2:17:35] juvenile process and a competent comp

[2:17:38] competence determination is being made,

[2:17:40] the judge hasn't decided yet. They're

[2:17:42] still doing the evaluations.

[2:17:44] That youth can be detained at Long

[2:17:46] Creek.

[2:17:49] Recently, in the p within the past year

[2:17:51] or so, um there has been one youth who

[2:17:54] is there for a very serious crime who

[2:17:56] was found not competent but possibly

[2:17:59] could become competent. DOC worked with

[2:18:02] the state forensic services, um the

[2:18:05] department of health, health and human

[2:18:06] services, office of behavioral health

[2:18:09] and our clinical providers, Wellpath,

[2:18:11] who do tremendous amount of work with

[2:18:14] all the youth there to develop a system

[2:18:16] for establishing competence for those

[2:18:19] juveniles.

[2:18:21] And uh so that juvenile was first found

[2:18:23] not competent but possibly could be

[2:18:26] competent. at the next court date, the

[2:18:28] court found that that youth was

[2:18:30] competent as a result of the services

[2:18:32] that were pro provided to that resident

[2:18:35] while at Long Creek. So, there is a lot

[2:18:39] of good being done there as well. Um,

[2:18:43] you know, our our system is complex and

[2:18:46] I I'm going to repeat what you've heard

[2:18:48] several times tonight. We're proud to

[2:18:50] work with local law enforcement,

[2:18:53] community programs, the schools because

[2:18:56] we recognize this is not a problem that

[2:18:58] we are going to solve alone. Uh this is

[2:19:01] a big community pro problem. Um I will

[2:19:04] defer to Jill about any legislative

[2:19:07] questions or did you want to add

[2:19:10] anything? Just that uh certainly

[2:19:15] not every youth's experience at Long

[2:19:17] Creek is wonderful. it for detained

[2:19:19] youth it is a stable environment staffed

[2:19:22] by people who care tremendously for the

[2:19:24] youth. It is without a doubt disruptive.

[2:19:27] Um by the way the system is set up youth

[2:19:30] at Long Creek if they're detained their

[2:19:33] home schools are still responsible for

[2:19:35] their education. So it's remote school

[2:19:37] that's disruptive um for committed

[2:19:39] youth. Long Creek has an accredited

[2:19:41] school. Um there are a lot of wonderful

[2:19:43] things going on there. Um but certainly

[2:19:45] it is disruptive and better for people

[2:19:48] to remain in a home that is supportive.

[2:19:51] Happy to answer questions I can about

[2:19:52] the legislative process and the

[2:19:54] department.

[2:19:58] » Uh we uh yes we will now uh take

[2:20:02] questions from counselors. Uh councelor

[2:20:04] Nene.

[2:20:06] >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Um I I do have a

[2:20:09] couple of questions about um when you're

[2:20:12] releasing uh juvenile

[2:20:16] it's a I guess it's a procedural

[2:20:18] question but in many cases it seems that

[2:20:20] we release juveniles before they appear

[2:20:22] before a judge uh for especially for

[2:20:24] like let's say misdemeanor crimes um if

[2:20:28] you've for instance stolen a vehicle

[2:20:31] right which we call joy riding you don't

[2:20:34] actually appear before a judge before

[2:20:36] you're released is the Is that correct?

[2:20:39] >> It's complicated. So, um, we are subject

[2:20:43] to all of the laws that are in the

[2:20:44] juvenile code, the same laws that govern

[2:20:46] the DA's office, and there are clear

[2:20:50] statutory guidelines on when a youth can

[2:20:53] be detained at Longre. First, you need

[2:20:55] to have a criteria for detention, which

[2:20:57] means the youth has to have had uh

[2:21:00] felony level allegations or they've

[2:21:03] violated a condition of probation or

[2:21:06] condition of release um or they are um

[2:21:11] have a failure a warrant. There there

[2:21:13] are certain criteria that exceptions,

[2:21:16] but by and large, if a youth commits a

[2:21:19] misdemeanor level offense and they don't

[2:21:21] have history in the system, the law does

[2:21:25] not allow that juvenile to be detained.

[2:21:28] If it's a felony, then detention is

[2:21:30] possible.

[2:21:32] >> Thank you very much. Uh second question

[2:21:34] would be when a determination of

[2:21:36] competency competency or non-competency

[2:21:39] is is found um can that be challenged or

[2:21:43] is that just accepted um as

[2:21:47] what it is?

[2:21:50] >> The competence determination is made in

[2:21:53] my experience so should be made solely

[2:21:55] by the judge. Um and often it's with a

[2:21:58] hearing not always. Sometimes it's very

[2:22:00] clear one way or the other whether the

[2:22:02] juvenile is or is not competent. But a

[2:22:04] judge makes a determination on whether

[2:22:07] the juvenile is competent. If the

[2:22:10] juvenile is found not competent and not

[2:22:13] likely to become competent, the judge

[2:22:16] has three statutory options. One, the

[2:22:19] judge could place the juvenile in DHS

[2:22:22] custody.

[2:22:24] Two, they can refer the juvenile to the

[2:22:26] Department of Health and Human Services

[2:22:28] for what's essentially voluntary

[2:22:30] services. So DHS works with the family

[2:22:33] to provide whatever they need or the

[2:22:36] judge can order nothing. At the end of

[2:22:39] that decision, between those three

[2:22:41] choices, the juvenile charge is

[2:22:44] dismissed. So there's nothing further

[2:22:46] pending in the court. Now,

[2:22:50] could could an attorney for either side

[2:22:53] appeal a competence decision to the

[2:22:56] Supreme Court? Yes. I to the best of my

[2:22:59] knowledge, there has not been any appeal

[2:23:01] on a a juvenile competence

[2:23:03] determination, but in theory, yes. And the last question that I have is if

[2:23:08] we're releasing juveniles that have

[2:23:10] commit committed misdemeanors

[2:23:12] um before um

[2:23:16] well basically without without holding

[2:23:18] them, do we then determine after we

[2:23:20] release these juveniles if their uh home

[2:23:24] life is stable and supportive and their

[2:23:27] community uh situation is is such that

[2:23:30] their their likelihood of recidivism is

[2:23:32] low or do we not care about juvenile

[2:23:36] um misdemeanor crimes. As far as

[2:23:38] determining those pieces,

[2:23:41] >> we definitely care. So, the youth gets

[2:23:44] referred from law enforcement to DOC and

[2:23:47] the JCCOS's will do an initial meeting

[2:23:49] with the family, talk about what's going

[2:23:52] on, uh asks about strengths and

[2:23:55] challenges in the home, and if it's a

[2:23:58] minor offense and the DA approves, we

[2:24:00] can divert that case and handle it

[2:24:02] informally. If there appears to be a

[2:24:05] need for more intervention and perhaps

[2:24:07] court-ordered services, then the case

[2:24:10] goes on to court. But every case that

[2:24:12] comes to the DOC, we do uh what's called

[2:24:16] the youth level of service inventory.

[2:24:18] It's a it's a risk assessment that kind

[2:24:21] of helps us identify which youth are

[2:24:25] doing okay, don't really need a lot of

[2:24:27] intervention, and those that need more.

[2:24:31] Thank you so much very much for all

[2:24:32] that.

[2:24:34] Councelor Long Champs.

[2:24:36] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, could you remind

[2:24:39] me of that uh dollar value, the the

[2:24:42] amount of money that is uh going out to

[2:24:45] organizations?

[2:24:47] Can you remind uh me of that 4 million

[2:24:52] that's going out to organizations?

[2:24:55] >> Yes, counselor. Statewide 4.6 6 million

[2:24:58] in fiscal year 2026 and for region 2 it

[2:25:02] was 1.4 million.

[2:25:04] >> And what organizations uh is that being

[2:25:07] uh given to?

[2:25:08] >> There's approximately 10.

[2:25:10] >> May I have the names?

[2:25:12] >> Uh New Beginnings. We support New

[2:25:13] Beginnings Shelter, Tree Street,

[2:25:15] Spurwink, Main Behavioral Health,

[2:25:17] Restorative Justice Project, the

[2:25:19] statewide regional care teams, Prebble

[2:25:22] Street, etc. Was that 10?

[2:25:27] >> Uh,

[2:25:28] >> we have a few others

[2:25:30] >> that you can't share or

[2:25:31] >> No, I'm I'm happy to keep going. Um,

[2:25:33] >> please.

[2:25:36] >> Youth advocate program, Tree Street,

[2:25:38] Journey.do, main immigrant and refugee

[2:25:40] services, several several community

[2:25:42] programs.

[2:25:43] >> Thank you. Um,

[2:25:46] how do you track the success coming from

[2:25:49] uh those programs? Do you and how do

[2:25:51] you? So we certainly Christine, would

[2:25:54] you like to?

[2:25:55] >> Yeah. So we have a fabulous uh contract

[2:25:59] manager who keeps reports. She requires

[2:26:02] monthly reports from all of those

[2:26:04] organizations on the number of youth

[2:26:06] they've served. Uh a program like MST

[2:26:09] with multi-istic therapy. We don't

[2:26:12] necessarily get into the details of what

[2:26:15] that was about, but that whether the

[2:26:17] youth and the family engaged in the

[2:26:19] services or whether they were closed out

[2:26:22] prematurely for some reason, we keep

[2:26:23] that kind of data. Um, all of the

[2:26:26] programs do have to provide some

[2:26:28] documentation of how they're using the

[2:26:30] funds that we uh allocate to them. So,

[2:26:34] sometimes we ask for receipts and

[2:26:37] documentation on spending.

[2:26:40] >> Thank you. Um,

[2:26:42] I know there are uh a large number of

[2:26:46] folks that disagree or would rather uh

[2:26:49] not see Long Creek exist. Um, I think

[2:26:52] Long Creek is very important. I did a

[2:26:54] lot of volunteering there. Um, and I I

[2:26:58] think it's very important to have a safe

[2:27:00] place um for juveniles to go when they

[2:27:04] have committed crimes. So, I hope uh

[2:27:07] Long Creek plans to stay for a long

[2:27:09] time. I think it's very needed. Um,

[2:27:13] I did have one more question,

[2:27:19] » but I can't remember.

[2:27:20] >> We can come back to you, counselor.

[2:27:23] Uh, councelor councelor Herman,

[2:27:27] >> thank you both for being here. Um,

[2:27:29] councelor Nene touched on this a little

[2:27:31] bit, but when you when you make the

[2:27:34] decision to release someone uh release a

[2:27:37] juvenile to their family, um you

[2:27:40] mentioned that that that family

[2:27:42] engagement is important. What happens if

[2:27:44] the family for whatever reason, whether

[2:27:47] it's um lack of resources or um you

[2:27:52] know, whatever reason it is, they're not

[2:27:54] really able to support that juvenile in

[2:27:57] the way they need. Um what what sorts of options are there then?

[2:28:05] >> So, one of our contracts is with two

[2:28:08] separate agencies, the Opportunity

[2:28:09] Alliance and Wings. They cover different

[2:28:13] parts of the state and they have

[2:28:16] highfidelity wraparound programs. That

[2:28:18] is a system that's designed for exactly

[2:28:21] those youth to uh help identify natural

[2:28:24] supports in the community. Um support

[2:28:27] parents as best they can but supplement

[2:28:30] where the parents are are not able to do

[2:28:34] all that they need. mentoring programs.

[2:28:36] We have the youth advocate program. Uh

[2:28:39] and and as even though they are very caring and they do a great job,

[2:28:44] they are struggling with staffing. To

[2:28:46] echo another concern that you've heard

[2:28:48] several times, um their staffing is

[2:28:51] difficult for them to retain and and

[2:28:53] keep long term. But those kinds of

[2:28:56] things we do we we recognize that not

[2:28:58] all parents have the resources that that

[2:29:01] we that the kids need.

[2:29:04] Okay. Thank you,

[2:29:07] >> Councelor Roy.

[2:29:10] >> Thank you. Um, one of the questions I

[2:29:13] hope that you might be able to answer

[2:29:14] is, um,

[2:29:16] what is the approach if you have a youth

[2:29:19] that goes before you

[2:29:22] and you let go for doing a crime and

[2:29:26] then they come back within a month or

[2:29:28] maybe even a week or two? Is there an

[2:29:31] approach that you follow? cuz we heard

[2:29:32] earlier that we're having repeat youth

[2:29:36] out there and it just they keep uh the

[2:29:38] youth keep getting uh let back into the

[2:29:42] city. So

[2:29:44] >> So every youth who is arrested by law

[2:29:47] enforcement and detained at Long Creek

[2:29:49] appears before a judge within 48

[2:29:51] business hours. That judge can decide

[2:29:54] whether to release the youth at court on

[2:29:57] that day and and sometimes they do. Um,

[2:30:01] the judge may order that the youth be

[2:30:04] detained at Long Creek, but allow the

[2:30:07] JCCO, the discretion, to release that

[2:30:10] youth once services are in place, or the

[2:30:14] judge can order that the youth be held

[2:30:16] with no right to release, meaning only a

[2:30:19] judge can now release that youth from

[2:30:22] Long Creek. Um, so if the JCCO happens

[2:30:26] to be uh have that discretion, usually

[2:30:29] what happens is we have a team meeting

[2:30:31] where we pull together attorneys and uh

[2:30:35] JCCO if there's a community case

[2:30:37] manager.

[2:30:39] The expectation is that within 5 days of

[2:30:42] that original detention that the JCCOs

[2:30:45] have pulled together the supports for

[2:30:47] that youth and and everybody comes

[2:30:49] together to make a release plan. Um, so

[2:30:53] is it perfect? Absolutely not. Um, but

[2:30:55] we certainly do look at all of the

[2:30:57] factors and the risks of of reaffending.

[2:31:02] Uh, I had a psychologist tell me once

[2:31:04] the best predictor of future behavior is

[2:31:06] past behavior. So, we look at, you know,

[2:31:08] the history and and the domains, not

[2:31:11] just what's happening on the streets of

[2:31:13] Lewon, but what's happening in the

[2:31:14] school, what's happening in the home,

[2:31:16] uh, what are the support resources. So,

[2:31:19] it's not a knee-jerk. we're gonna

[2:31:21] release this youth and hope for the best

[2:31:23] there. It's a very thoughtful

[2:31:24] decision-making process.

[2:31:27] >> Thank you for that. Um, so going into

[2:31:29] that, are what are the rehabilitation

[2:31:32] services that you have at Long Creek to

[2:31:35] help prevent patterns?

[2:31:39] » So, thank you for this opportunity to

[2:31:42] debunk some myths. um youth. So, as as

[2:31:45] Jill mentioned, youth are there either

[2:31:47] on a detained status or on a committed

[2:31:50] status. Youth who are detained have not

[2:31:52] yet been adjudicated. They are presumed

[2:31:55] innocent. They have due process rights.

[2:31:57] We don't dive into the behaviors that

[2:32:00] they've been alleged to commit. What we

[2:32:03] do provide to youth who are they

[2:32:05] detained status is clinical support.

[2:32:09] Pardon me. uh clinical support. We have

[2:32:12] on-site and on call uh clinical

[2:32:16] behavioral specialists. We have a

[2:32:18] psychiatric nurse practitioner, doctors,

[2:32:21] dentist. Um all of those services that

[2:32:25] help stabilize the youth in that

[2:32:28] environment, we provide to the detained

[2:32:30] youth. So, if they're having a a mental

[2:32:32] health crisis or engaging in self harm,

[2:32:36] we respond to that. We have an excellent

[2:32:38] team of Wellpath clinicians that respond

[2:32:40] to that immediately

[2:32:42] once the youth is adjudicated and if

[2:32:45] they are committed to Long Creek, we do

[2:32:48] 30 days of assessments on education

[2:32:50] needs. Oh, let me back up. Detained

[2:32:52] youth, uh, as Jill said, they remain the

[2:32:55] responsibility of the home school, but

[2:32:58] the homeschool can choose to have them

[2:33:00] attend classes at our internal school,

[2:33:03] AR Gold, and award credits. And most of

[2:33:06] the time that's what the schools will do

[2:33:08] uh just because it is less disruptive

[2:33:10] than sending in independent teachers. So

[2:33:14] for the detained kids they get

[2:33:15] education, they get uh stabilization,

[2:33:18] mental health stabilization, medical

[2:33:20] needs. Uh they get to be part of all of

[2:33:23] the activities that are going on in the

[2:33:26] facility. They're not precluded from

[2:33:28] having visitors or engaging. We had a a

[2:33:31] fun summer fun day last week. They get

[2:33:33] to participate in all of that stuff. The

[2:33:35] only thing they don't get is an

[2:33:38] exploration of what led to that criminal

[2:33:42] conduct. That happens exclusively with

[2:33:44] youth who are committed after they've

[2:33:46] been adjudicated and after there's been

[2:33:49] an assessment. We have sexual behavior

[2:33:51] treatment if that's part of the issue.

[2:33:53] Substance use treatment is is almost

[2:33:57] universal. Not always but uh the youth

[2:34:00] who are detained do get substance use

[2:34:02] education as well. They get some of that

[2:34:04] work. Uh certainly anger management we

[2:34:07] have a tool called the savvery um that

[2:34:10] assesses risk of violence and depending

[2:34:13] on how the youth comes out on that

[2:34:15] assessment. We do different types of

[2:34:17] intervention around um you know helping

[2:34:20] to prevent future violence,

[2:34:22] self-regulation skills, uh trauma work,

[2:34:25] all of the things you've heard about.

[2:34:27] that uh but that again is a very

[2:34:29] thoughtful and well-informed process. It

[2:34:32] takes about 30 days to really gather

[2:34:34] psychological testing, education

[2:34:36] testing, IEPs if they have them from

[2:34:39] schools. So there there's a lot that

[2:34:41] happens there that you you don't read

[2:34:44] about that in the paper, but there is a

[2:34:46] lot happening there.

[2:34:48] >> Thank you for that. And two really quick

[2:34:50] questions. Um one, what happens if they

[2:34:52] don't participate? Is there fall fall

[2:34:56] back for or is there like a way

[2:34:59] repercussions? Thank you.

[2:35:02] >> Well, certainly we can't force a youth

[2:35:06] to do something they don't want to do,

[2:35:07] but we try to incentivize them. So, we

[2:35:10] have level systems. We have, you know,

[2:35:13] the the higher you are on the level, the

[2:35:15] more privileges you get. We have an

[2:35:16] earned living unit for those youth that

[2:35:18] are really engaging. They get to wear

[2:35:20] jeans and they get to walk through the

[2:35:22] halls unescorted and they get a lot they

[2:35:25] get more offgrounds privileges and do

[2:35:28] more activities. So yeah, we can't you

[2:35:31] know any of you have had teenagers try

[2:35:33] and force them to do anything but you

[2:35:35] can incentivize and and we do as best as

[2:35:38] we can to incentivize u teenagers.

[2:35:43] And then my last question would be um in

[2:35:46] your experience when do behaviors become

[2:35:48] patterns?

[2:35:53] » In my experience and in speaking with

[2:35:56] many forensic psychologists over my

[2:35:58] career, um what what I believe and I'm

[2:36:02] not a psychologist is that there are

[2:36:05] indicators that a youth is going to be

[2:36:07] what they call life course persistent.

[2:36:10] And some of those are um perhaps the

[2:36:14] most predictive is very early onset of

[2:36:17] violence. I'm talking and I've seen this

[2:36:20] in my prior to coming to doc uh a youth

[2:36:24] who was six years old and choking out

[2:36:28] another girl at the daycare with a ne

[2:36:30] with her necklace. That kind of behavior

[2:36:33] which is not normative and is very early

[2:36:36] onset tends to be a predictor of a youth

[2:36:40] who's probably going to continue to be

[2:36:43] um disruptive into adulthood. Whereas a

[2:36:47] young per and this is why getting a

[2:36:49] history and an accurate history is so

[2:36:50] important to us is you've heard someone

[2:36:53] else say I think it was Mr. fake nail or one of the others. Teenagers do

[2:36:58] stupid things. And sometimes those

[2:37:01] stupid things result in consequences

[2:37:03] they didn't intend that are very bad.

[2:37:05] But when you look at that youth,

[2:37:08] you have a different lens of this is

[2:37:10] probably not going to be a life course

[2:37:12] persistent offender. Uh we need to help

[2:37:15] them deal with what they've done. And

[2:37:19] accountability might be apologizing.

[2:37:21] Restorative justice is a is a form of

[2:37:23] accountability but it's a different

[2:37:26] approach than those uh that we can

[2:37:29] identify again with the assistance of

[2:37:32] psychologists and experts in that area

[2:37:35] of those youth that are going to be

[2:37:37] problems into adulthood.

[2:37:39] >> Thank you

[2:37:42] counselor Noble.

[2:37:45] >> I heard you talk about the wraparound

[2:37:47] services FFT [snorts] and MST. How long

[2:37:51] does it take for those services to be

[2:37:53] put in place for the support of the

[2:37:55] family?

[2:37:59] It depends. So, right now, the state of

[2:38:04] Maine, the Department of Behavioral

[2:38:05] Health Services has a system that has

[2:38:08] just been in place as of February. Some

[2:38:10] of you may have heard about a federal

[2:38:14] um Department of Justice action against

[2:38:16] the state. And as a result of that

[2:38:18] settlement agreement, the Department of

[2:38:22] Health and Human Services uh is required

[2:38:25] to do a what's called a single

[2:38:27] assessment for any youth that needs that

[2:38:29] level of care. They need to first get an

[2:38:32] assessment by Entra.

[2:38:35] Aentra determines whether they're

[2:38:37] eligible for MST, FFT, those kinds of

[2:38:41] services. Uh and if so, then the

[2:38:44] services are paid for by main care. If

[2:38:46] the youth is not covered by main care,

[2:38:49] DOC provides funding that we will pay

[2:38:52] the cost of those services for

[2:38:54] non-covered youth. That's much quicker

[2:38:57] than having to go through that process.

[2:39:01] >> Thank you.

[2:39:02] >> I think on and I have heard again that

[2:39:05] it varies from region to region um on

[2:39:08] availability of those services. I think

[2:39:12] in what I would call the the rim

[2:39:13] counties, Oxford County, uh, Waldo,

[2:39:17] Washington County, some of those

[2:39:18] counties, I think the services are less

[2:39:21] accessible.

[2:39:24] » Council Chitten.

[2:39:26] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, first of all,

[2:39:28] I'd like to say that I wish there were

[2:39:30] not a need for the Department of

[2:39:31] Corrections at all. Uh, I wish that you

[2:39:33] were both out of jobs. I bet you do,

[2:39:35] too. Um, the most important thing I've

[2:39:39] heard you say tonight is this $4.6

[2:39:42] million state community programming that

[2:39:44] applies before the situation. Most of

[2:39:48] what we've heard about from many

[2:39:49] speakers tonight, yourselves included,

[2:39:51] happens after the fact. And the goal

[2:39:54] here is to prevent the activity, the

[2:39:57] gunfire, the violence in the first

[2:39:59] place. So, I'm encouraged to hear about

[2:40:01] this 4.6 million. Um, my question to you

[2:40:06] is, is this a legislative budget that is

[2:40:10] given to you? Is it 4.6 year after year?

[2:40:13] Is there hope for growth of that? I want

[2:40:15] obviously more of that money to come to

[2:40:17] the organizations in Lewon to address

[2:40:20] the problem that we're gathered here

[2:40:22] tonight to address gun violence by youth

[2:40:24] in Lewon.

[2:40:26] That that's my question. Is is there a

[2:40:29] chance of getting more money to come to

[2:40:30] Lewon to sol to address this? Thank you.

[2:40:35] >> Thank you for the question, counselor.

[2:40:37] We absolutely advocate for more than

[2:40:39] this every year. We put into our budget

[2:40:42] what we would like to see. It doesn't

[2:40:44] always make it into the final budget

[2:40:46] that's presented to the legislature and

[2:40:48] then what the legislature decides is

[2:40:50] never as much as an agency asks for. So,

[2:40:53] I would encourage you all to reach out

[2:40:55] to your legislators and tell them how

[2:40:56] important community programs are.

[2:41:00] >> Just to follow up on that, u could you

[2:41:03] offline give me the account number, the

[2:41:05] accounting, the specific asks to go to

[2:41:08] our legislators with uh you have my

[2:41:10] email address. You can get that to me uh

[2:41:13] afterwards.

[2:41:14] >> Absolutely. Thank you,

[2:41:17] >> Councelor Martell.

[2:41:18] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you guys

[2:41:20] for being here tonight. Um so just in uh

[2:41:23] my own personal experience I remember

[2:41:26] growing up and being a teenager uh it

[2:41:29] seemed like there was much more punitive

[2:41:34] uh punishment accountability for crimes

[2:41:38] and poor behaviors. It seems at some

[2:41:41] point there was a shift made to I've

[2:41:43] hear you use terms like uh restorative

[2:41:45] justice and uh this indicate the the

[2:41:50] moving towards trying to keep juveniles

[2:41:53] at all costs for any reason out of uh

[2:41:56] Long Creek or being detained.

[2:41:58] uh how when when did that transition or

[2:42:01] when did this movement towards this type

[2:42:03] of

[2:42:05] um I don't know adjudication or or

[2:42:08] dealing with juvenile crime

[2:42:11] when did that shift happen and how long

[2:42:14] have we been uh trying to to operate

[2:42:18] under that plan or that path or that

[2:42:20] strategy?

[2:42:25] I'm going to try to answer this as best

[2:42:28] I can. I think some of you that were

[2:42:31] around in the early 90s remember the

[2:42:33] super predator scare and that there was

[2:42:36] a

[2:42:38] actually a researcher who said that

[2:42:40] youth in that period of time were

[2:42:43] without a conscience, without a soul.

[2:42:45] They were um just awful and we were

[2:42:48] going to have a blood bath in 10 or 15

[2:42:51] years when those youth grew up.

[2:42:53] And even though that's what the data

[2:42:55] said, that's not what happened. And what

[2:42:57] we've actually seen is a a sharp and

[2:43:00] consistent decline in juvenile crime in

[2:43:04] the community.

[2:43:05] In my experience, um punishment and

[2:43:10] accountability are terms that often

[2:43:13] people ascribe their own meaning to.

[2:43:16] Accountability doesn't mean it's easy.

[2:43:19] It doesn't mean nothing happens. Um, in

[2:43:22] my experience, if you have a youth who

[2:43:25] has harmed their neighbor and you say to

[2:43:29] that and the judge says to that youth,

[2:43:31] you're going to do four days at Long

[2:43:34] Creek Youth Development Center or you're

[2:43:37] going to sit down with that neighbor and

[2:43:39] apologize to them and you're going to do

[2:43:41] something to repair the harm that you've

[2:43:44] done. I can't think of a single juvenile

[2:43:46] that will pick the restorative justice.

[2:43:49] they will pick the easy way out. So I

[2:43:52] think if you think about accountability

[2:43:55] in terms of helping the youth grow from

[2:43:59] their mistake, that doesn't mean it's

[2:44:01] easy. It doesn't mean the kids like it,

[2:44:04] but it means we are giving them tools to

[2:44:07] grow from that mistake, not simply

[2:44:11] imposing a discomfort that doesn't get

[2:44:15] us where we want to be, which is a

[2:44:17] reduction in that behavior. So, in my

[2:44:20] experience, accountability is often

[2:44:23] times more painful for youth if it's

[2:44:26] restorative, if it's um talking about

[2:44:30] behaviors. Show me a teenager that wants

[2:44:33] to sit down and talk about their sexual

[2:44:35] behaviors

[2:44:37] as a condition of probation for a an

[2:44:40] offense they might have occurred. They

[2:44:42] will take a month, a year at Long Creek

[2:44:45] rather than do that treatment. But

[2:44:48] that's accountability is you harm

[2:44:50] someone by this behavior. Here's what

[2:44:53] we're going to do to make sure that

[2:44:54] doesn't happen again or at least reduce

[2:44:56] the likelihood of it. So,

[2:45:00] >> thank you for that. My question though

[2:45:01] was when did the shift in approach start

[2:45:04] and roughly how long has that been?

[2:45:07] So, I' I've been in juvenile justice for

[2:45:10] 30ish years, and I would say that it has

[2:45:13] been a good 20 years since we learned

[2:45:17] more about adolescent development, more

[2:45:19] about, as Mr. Bnell said, about brain

[2:45:22] development. And um so I would say that

[2:45:26] the switch switch from a punitive model

[2:45:29] to a more holistic model was probably

[2:45:35] 20 to 25 years ago.

[2:45:37] >> And you're suggesting that there's been

[2:45:39] a stark drop in juvenile crime since

[2:45:42] that's been the approach.

[2:45:44] >> I'm not suggesting it. The data clearly

[2:45:47] shows it.

[2:45:48] >> Okay. Um, it just feels like the the

[2:45:50] situation that we're dealing with, at

[2:45:51] least here locally, doesn't seem to

[2:45:53] reflect that. And that's kind of the the

[2:45:56] square I'm trying to circle. That's all.

[2:45:57] I'm not questioning uh your data or what

[2:46:00] you're saying. I'm just trying to make

[2:46:02] sense of it. Uh, it seems like we've got

[2:46:03] a juvenile shooting once a week, if not

[2:46:05] more often in Lewon. And uh, Councelor

[2:46:08] Tridum stated or at least pointed out

[2:46:10] that this seems to be more uh more

[2:46:13] serious in Lewon rather than other

[2:46:15] cities. So, uh, maybe there's other

[2:46:17] reasons for that, but, um, when I'm

[2:46:20] reading the news each day, it doesn't

[2:46:22] particularly feel like, uh, we're seeing

[2:46:24] less juvenile violent crime.

[2:46:27] >> Um, that's all. Thank you.

[2:46:29] >> I I I I will say the data does support

[2:46:32] your your, um, assertion that there is

[2:46:35] more gun violence and it is certainly

[2:46:38] not unique to Lewon, but it is more

[2:46:41] common in Lewon. And I won't even

[2:46:45] venture a guess um as to why Lewon as

[2:46:49] opposed to other communities, but I do

[2:46:51] think one thing that has changed

[2:46:53] tremendously in my time in the system is

[2:46:57] that the availability of weapons, and

[2:47:00] you've heard that from others as well. I

[2:47:02] think guns were less available to youth

[2:47:06] 25 years ago than they are today.

[2:47:11] Thank you uh both for being here. Uh you

[2:47:14] me, if I heard you right, there's uh

[2:47:16] approximately 50 uh youth at Long Creek

[2:47:19] at this moment.

[2:47:21] >> 49. Yes.

[2:47:22] >> Yeah. Okay. 49. And then the breakdown

[2:47:25] by county, does that is that

[2:47:27] proportional by population or is one

[2:47:29] county have u proportionally more? Uh

[2:47:33] are you able to share that?

[2:47:36] >> I do keep that data, but I don't have it

[2:47:38] at the top of my head. I will say that

[2:47:40] there are uh fewer detentions when you

[2:47:43] get into region three, which is

[2:47:45] essentially the top seven counties. And

[2:47:49] I suspect that's because law

[2:47:50] enforcement, unlike having county jails

[2:47:53] where law enforcement can bring someone

[2:47:55] they've arrested to the county jail, if

[2:47:57] a youth is arrested in Caribou, they've

[2:47:59] got to be brought to South Portland.

[2:48:02] that I think is a natural deterrent for

[2:48:04] law enforcement to call and request that

[2:48:07] a youth be detained unless they really need to be detained. Um so it is

[2:48:12] less the the data it's not proportionate

[2:48:16] per county by any means. Um, but I will

[2:48:19] say that

[2:48:21] Gusta South or you know is probably the

[2:48:24] bigger twothirds of the at least 2/3 if

[2:48:28] not 75% of the population.

[2:48:32] >> Understood. Thank you. Uh, further qu

[2:48:34] Yes Yes. Councelor Longs, did you have

[2:48:35] something?

[2:48:36] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, I would just like

[2:48:39] to thank you ladies again for coming

[2:48:40] here and uh contacting us to be a part

[2:48:43] of this meeting. Um, it's not definitely

[2:48:47] not an easy meeting. Um, I believe in

[2:48:50] Long Creek. I I think you need to uh

[2:48:53] continue doing what you're doing and and

[2:48:54] thank you.

[2:48:57] >> Further questions from council.

[2:49:00] Thank you both for being here.

[2:49:04] >> Yes. Uh, a huge round of applause for

[2:49:06] all of our presenters, please.

[2:49:14] We will now uh take um uh comments from counselors. Uh counselors uh I am

[2:49:21] not timing you, but if you could keep it

[2:49:23] to to three minutes, that'd be that'd be

[2:49:25] great for general remarks. We're going

[2:49:27] to start with uh the councelor forward

[2:49:29] one, Josh Nene. Councelor Nene.

[2:49:32] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, first and

[2:49:34] foremost,

[2:49:36] I want to thank everybody for coming uh

[2:49:38] tonight. Uh I'd like to also say that

[2:49:41] the availability of guns in our

[2:49:44] community that youth have is a major

[2:49:46] problem. That that is that is uh one

[2:49:50] tier uh of the issue. Um if kids don't

[2:49:55] have guns, which they shouldn't have

[2:49:56] guns, ever have guns, then they can't

[2:50:00] commit crimes with guns. So uh we need

[2:50:03] to figure out an angle there. I would

[2:50:06] also say that there are huge gaps in uh

[2:50:12] supports for at risk children before

[2:50:14] they become uh children who are shooting at children

[2:50:21] and and unfortunately these are kids.

[2:50:22] They're 100% kids but they're committing

[2:50:25] adult crimes and and and that's very

[2:50:28] challenging for this community. Um

[2:50:31] people don't feel safe. Um kids don't

[2:50:33] feel safe. Um, we've got a problem

[2:50:36] there, a huge problem, and we don't have

[2:50:38] the

[2:50:40] resources financially to fix this. So,

[2:50:43] we do need to work together to ask for

[2:50:46] more financial resources to deal with

[2:50:48] some of these things. And there and

[2:50:49] there are systemic issues with all of

[2:50:52] these pieces. when you're not compelled

[2:50:55] uh to improve uh

[2:50:59] the life of a child um because they

[2:51:01] haven't committed a crime big enough. Um

[2:51:06] we're we're literally letting those

[2:51:07] children

[2:51:09] just continue a path that that leads to

[2:51:14] uh

[2:51:16] danger for themselves and others and and

[2:51:19] it's just not correct. Um, but I

[2:51:22] appreciate everybody coming forward

[2:51:23] today uh to present. Um, I I still have

[2:51:26] a lot of questions about how we make

[2:51:28] sure that we both both keep kids and our

[2:51:31] communities safe um because there are

[2:51:34] glaring gaps in that system.

[2:51:36] >> Thank you,

[2:51:38] >> Kyle. A long trip.

[2:51:39] >> Kyle, is it is the public going to get a

[2:51:42] chance to speak tonight or

[2:51:43] >> uh Yes. Yes. We're we're moving quickly

[2:51:45] towards that. If you can take your take

[2:51:47] your

[2:51:48] >> seat. Could you also um give us a break?

[2:51:51] Uh maybe a five minute break. I think

[2:51:53] the crowd could use it. You lost.

[2:51:55] >> You could take a break right now, sir.

[2:51:57] And we will get back to public comment.

[2:51:58] Uh we we will get to public comment in a

[2:52:00] little bit. Thank you.

[2:52:03] >> Please take a seat. Thank you.

[2:52:05] >> Uh councelor Long Champs.

[2:52:07] >> Thank you, uh Mr. Mayor. Um

[2:52:11] we've heard a lot tonight. Um,

[2:52:16] but I'm not sure that we've heard of

[2:52:18] anything that will really immediately um

[2:52:21] help us with the current situation.

[2:52:24] Um,

[2:52:27] we're experiencing gun violence almost

[2:52:29] daily. Um, it once, you know, was really

[2:52:35] uh more so happening at night. Now it's

[2:52:38] happening in the broad daylight. Uh you

[2:52:40] heard our chief say that we are 11

[2:52:42] officers down.

[2:52:45] Everyone is underst staffed

[2:52:48] in my opinion. And no one's going to

[2:52:51] like to hear this or not no no one but

[2:52:53] there will be some fan uh some people

[2:52:55] that are not fans of this but I believe

[2:52:58] this is a call for our national guard to

[2:53:01] come and help us.

[2:53:04] Um,

[2:53:06] I would I'm hoping that Governor Mills

[2:53:09] will sit with our law enforcement, our

[2:53:11] DA's office

[2:53:14] uh to really come up with a plan.

[2:53:17] We need a deterrent out there and our

[2:53:19] officers need to focus on violent

[2:53:22] crimes.

[2:53:26] This to me really calls for uh state

[2:53:30] help. Again,

[2:53:34] there's really no real target when these

[2:53:36] young folks are shooting.

[2:53:38] They're shooting at cars, apartment

[2:53:42] buildings. There are families living in

[2:53:45] the downtown

[2:53:47] that don't have

[2:53:49] they they don't have the financials to

[2:53:51] move like some of us that are sitting in

[2:53:53] this room. They are stuck there. A lot

[2:53:56] of people are poor. There are families

[2:53:58] that are staying in the back of their

[2:54:00] apartments to protect their families

[2:54:03] from a stray bullet. That's

[2:54:05] unacceptable.

[2:54:08] We have to do something. And the

[2:54:10] National Guard could come and help.

[2:54:14] Walk around our streets and let our

[2:54:17] police work on other crimes. We are 11

[2:54:21] officers down. We need to do something

[2:54:24] to help protect the citizens here.

[2:54:27] So, I am hoping

[2:54:30] that um

[2:54:35] Governor Mills

[2:54:38] would take um what what I'm asking into

[2:54:41] serious uh consideration

[2:54:44] and and help us here in Lewon. That's

[2:54:47] all I have for now. Thank you,

[2:54:49] Councelor Harmon.

[2:54:58] I just want to thank everyone who came

[2:55:00] out tonight both to present and answer

[2:55:03] questions and those in the audience. Um,

[2:55:05] I definitely learned a lot about this

[2:55:07] topic and I look forward to continuing

[2:55:10] to work on solutions.

[2:55:14] Uh, Councelor Roy,

[2:55:18] » just want to thank everybody that came

[2:55:19] out to uh offer up some great um um

[2:55:24] insight into some backgrounds. Um,

[2:55:30] I would really like to hear what

[2:55:32] everybody else has to say right now

[2:55:34] because I think together we can gain

[2:55:38] some ideas. I know I've got some ideas,

[2:55:40] too. work on some community, you know,

[2:55:42] resources and programs and incentives.

[2:55:44] And um I'd like to hear what everybody

[2:55:46] else says. So, I'm going to pass that.

[2:55:50] >> Councelor Noble.

[2:55:56] Uh councelor Chidum.

[2:55:58] >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um there's been a

[2:56:01] lot of discussion tonight. I hope that

[2:56:04] the folks in the audience have learned

[2:56:05] as much as I have about some of the

[2:56:07] intractical problems that we're we're

[2:56:09] facing. I think the most concrete

[2:56:13] suggestion that I heard tonight, and I

[2:56:15] would urge everyone in this room to take

[2:56:17] it home and spread it, is to lock up

[2:56:20] your guns. Do not leave your guns on the

[2:56:22] front seat of your pickup truck so that

[2:56:25] a 12year-old can be told by an

[2:56:27] 11year-old there's easy pickings. That's

[2:56:30] your fault if your gun is stolen. And

[2:56:32] I'd like to see some consequences for

[2:56:34] people who have guns stolen from

[2:56:36] unlocked vehicles or people who have

[2:56:38] their guns in their vehicles. Anyway,

[2:56:40] that's the most concrete uh item that I

[2:56:43] picked up from tonight and I hope all of

[2:56:45] you have learned something. Thank you,

[2:56:49] >> Councelor Martell.

[2:56:50] >> Thank you. Um I want to speak on guns,

[2:56:52] too. Uh here's the thing. Every juvenile

[2:56:56] that's going around in our community

[2:56:57] carrying a gun or shooting a gun is

[2:56:59] already breaking a law. Any adult that

[2:57:02] has put the gun a gun in the hands of a

[2:57:05] juvenile broke a law doing so. Uh more

[2:57:08] gun laws only serve to disarm

[2:57:11] law-abiding citizens from protecting

[2:57:13] themselves. The people that are running

[2:57:15] around breaking these laws right now are

[2:57:18] comfortable breaking the laws that are

[2:57:19] in place. I have I see no indication

[2:57:22] that new or furthering laws are going to

[2:57:24] change that. The only uh people that

[2:57:27] laws new laws affect are law-abiding

[2:57:29] citizens. And I think it's clear that

[2:57:31] the people committing these crimes

[2:57:33] aren't by definition law- abiding

[2:57:35] citizens.

[2:57:36] Um,

[2:57:39] everyone wants to say a lot of times I

[2:57:41] hear uh it's not political. You know,

[2:57:43] kids shooting kids shouldn't be

[2:57:45] political. This shouldn't be political.

[2:57:47] This is a political issue. The problem

[2:57:49] that we have um

[2:57:54] this problem didn't happen overnight and

[2:57:56] it isn't going to be solved overnight.

[2:57:58] And there's a certain ideological

[2:58:01] political slant that I believe has

[2:58:04] fostered the environment that created

[2:58:06] this situation and allowed it to worsen.

[2:58:09] So uh two things the almost universally

[2:58:14] our speakers tonight said legislature

[2:58:17] Augusta laws representatives coming from

[2:58:20] the state. So um as far as the public

[2:58:24] goes uh two suggestions. Uh there's

[2:58:27] probably two things that the normal JQ

[2:58:29] public can do. That's uh see something,

[2:58:32] say something, and then get out and vote

[2:58:34] in November for candidates to go to

[2:58:36] Augusta to represent us that are going

[2:58:38] to take public I'm not campaigning. Uh

[2:58:41] go out and vote for people that are

[2:58:42] going to take public safety seriously.

[2:58:44] That's what you can do as a public.

[2:58:52] » I appreciate everyone coming tonight.

[2:58:54] Thank you for uh the presenters and

[2:58:57] making time this evening. Thank you for

[2:58:59] you all making time this evening to come

[2:59:00] here and thank you for uh I don't know

[2:59:02] how many people aren't watching online

[2:59:04] but thank you very much. Uh public

[2:59:06] safety is a shared responsibility and

[2:59:07] these conversations are important.

[2:59:09] There's many conversations happening um

[2:59:12] at this time and uh and I am encouraged

[2:59:15] by it and I hope more people get

[2:59:16] involved. Um, thank you all and I want

[2:59:18] to thank the counselors uh as well and

[2:59:21] uh a huge shout out uh to staff for uh

[2:59:24] making it possible to meet here both

[2:59:25] city staff and school staff.

[2:59:33] Uh so a couple of things uh uh for

[2:59:36] public comment here. So first off, if

[2:59:38] they're uh some of the presenters, if

[2:59:40] they're still here uh afterwards, you

[2:59:42] can feel free to come up to them and ask

[2:59:43] questions uh after uh public comment.

[2:59:47] And then uh Jake are uh sorry um

[2:59:50] Superintendent Langless uh are those uh

[2:59:53] note cards?

[2:59:55] Yes. So we have uh if you have questions

[2:59:58] uh for the presenters uh we are going to

[3:00:01] compile questions and then you know kind

[3:00:03] of publish a an FAQ later. So uh next to

[3:00:06] Superintendent Langless are not cards

[3:00:08] with pens. So feel free to come and uh

[3:00:10] fill out one. And so yes, we're starting

[3:00:13] public comment in uh just a few seconds.

[3:00:16] So, I want to remind people that this is

[3:00:18] a city council meeting. There will be no

[3:00:20] campaigning. Uh no profanity. Uh this is

[3:00:23] a special uh meeting. So, we need to be

[3:00:25] on topic about youth gun violence. Uh I

[3:00:28] urge all of us to be respectful and

[3:00:29] courteous and uh set a good example for

[3:00:32] our youth. Uh please continue, sir.

[3:00:37] >> Uh guess I have to push the button

[3:00:39] again.

[3:00:39] >> Yeah.

[3:00:40] >> Uh Charles Arthur soul 70 Horn Street.

[3:00:44] um [clears throat] 12 officers down,

[3:00:48] one is on medical leave, but yet they're

[3:00:51] using a drone. They bought the drone,

[3:00:55] and the insurance on that drone will be

[3:00:57] 85,000 a year. Wow. I think that would

[3:01:02] get us a couple of officers, maybe one

[3:01:04] or two. Um, another thing is that the

[3:01:06] cameras um I was out two nights ago and

[3:01:10] um because I I'm 73 by the way took a

[3:01:14] nap and I was out a nice night full moon

[3:01:16] and I'm on the corner of um of Horton

[3:01:20] and um Ash and um a ruckus breaks out.

[3:01:25] Eight people fighting in the street

[3:01:28] under a camera, city camera. So, I

[3:01:32] flicked my vehicle lights hoping to get

[3:01:35] the attention of who's ever watching the

[3:01:38] camera. But then after 20 minutes and

[3:01:40] the girl getting her head beat up on the

[3:01:42] asphalt, I um I had to go

[3:01:45] [clears throat]

[3:01:45] get a make a phone call. And then they

[3:01:49] showed up. How nice. Maybe I'll Nobody's

[3:01:53] watching the cameras. Maybe it's because

[3:01:55] of the laxity of no policing. But you

[3:01:58] can spend on a drone,

[3:02:01] you know. Um, another thing is that um,

[3:02:04] no money. This the superintendent of

[3:02:06] school going on almost three years ago

[3:02:08] bought a million-doll building at the

[3:02:11] corner of um, of Sabadis and Main Street

[3:02:15] and um because the roof blew off and um,

[3:02:20] CMMC I guess was was selling it for a

[3:02:23] million dollars. Now the city's uh um

[3:02:26] now and it was used for radiation

[3:02:29] treatment. So now the city's got to do

[3:02:32] the clean up on it and um and then prior

[3:02:36] to that because I'm 73, there used to be

[3:02:38] a a retreading plant for tires in there.

[3:02:41] So

[3:02:42] >> can you please get back on topic?

[3:02:44] >> Excuse me. That's not

[3:02:46] >> Please stay on topic.

[3:02:47] >> That is on I am on topic. That is a

[3:02:49] million dollars that could have went

[3:02:51] into policing.

[3:02:54] The school budget's a disgrace.

[3:02:56] Now, about people, civilry, not seeing

[3:03:00] too many police officers um out on the

[3:03:03] streets when people are passing on the

[3:03:05] left and the right, speeding up the

[3:03:08] street, hear it all night, squealing out

[3:03:10] around corners. Uh the society, I look

[3:03:14] at it, is almost useless in Lewon. Now,

[3:03:18] the only bright star I saw tonight was

[3:03:21] uh uh council from W 2, uh Miss Long

[3:03:26] Champamp. She start when she first came

[3:03:29] into the neighborhood uh in the city,

[3:03:32] she um had children who well, let's face

[3:03:36] it, um they were

[3:03:38] >> That's time. Thank you.

[3:03:40] >> Don't stop your

[3:03:42] >> That is time. You are done. Thank you.

[3:03:45] We're We're going to the next person.

[3:03:47] >> Good. Now, I would

[3:03:49] >> We are going to the next person.

[3:03:51] >> I would also ban Facebook if you would.

[3:03:58] » Yeah. Let's

[3:04:05] » further public comment. Thank you.

[3:04:07] >> Hello, my name is Jess. I live in Lewon.

[3:04:10] Um, I'm feeling very frustrated because

[3:04:14] I've heard the kids, the kids, the kids

[3:04:18] probably about like 50 times tonight.

[3:04:21] But where are the parents?

[3:04:23] I don't see any of the parents here of

[3:04:25] these kids. I don't see any of us going

[3:04:28] into these neighborhoods walking around

[3:04:31] and trying to invite some of these

[3:04:33] people in so that way we can kind of ask

[3:04:36] them what's up. you know, why can't we

[3:04:39] start a little committee to go into

[3:04:40] Kennedy Park? You know, have like trust

[3:04:44] activities. We play kickball, you know,

[3:04:48] uh frisbee, disc frisbee, you know, you

[3:04:51] get an extra five points if you get it

[3:04:53] in off a tree. Then these kids, you

[3:04:55] know, then that doesn't cost anything.

[3:04:58] we can get played against sports or some

[3:05:00] of these other people to donate

[3:05:02] kickballs, basketballs.

[3:05:05] If there's someone in here who knows how

[3:05:06] to skateboard, we'll bring these kids

[3:05:09] over to the skate park and teach them

[3:05:10] how to skate. But we need to get the

[3:05:13] parents more involved. And we need to

[3:05:17] hold them accountable.

[3:05:19] Personally, my whole entire life, I've

[3:05:22] had to be held accountable for more than

[3:05:24] I should have had to be accountable for.

[3:05:27] I'm a new beginnings kid.

[3:05:30] Look at me. You know, I'm doing okay.

[3:05:33] I'm not out shooting people up when I'm

[3:05:35] 16. But, you know, as a community, we

[3:05:39] all need together. Come together and and

[3:05:44] come to a board and just kind of bounce

[3:05:47] some ideas. You know, it's not going to

[3:05:49] hurt. What's the one thing that connects

[3:05:51] all of us? Music.

[3:05:54] I personally would like to go out into

[3:05:56] the park and play music and bring these

[3:05:59] kids in and teach them a skill. You

[3:06:02] know, youth build programs need to be

[3:06:04] brought back. You know, where they're in

[3:06:06] the classroom one week and on a job site

[3:06:09] another week and then they get paid a

[3:06:11] little stipen. So, this is like a little

[3:06:13] bit of cash in their pocket. But, you

[3:06:15] know what? They're being taught a skill

[3:06:18] and they're being taught education.

[3:06:21] And I don't know where the pending went

[3:06:23] for that, but I mean, we need to bring

[3:06:26] it back and we need to get the parents

[3:06:28] more involved because tonight I've only

[3:06:30] heard the word parents maybe used five

[3:06:34] or six times. So, you know, it really, really has to do with the

[3:06:40] parents cuz they need to step up. They

[3:06:42] need to be here for their kids. You

[3:06:44] know, these kids are not coming from a

[3:06:46] good background. They don't have any

[3:06:48] role models. Like, what are they going

[3:06:50] to do? So, they don't know how to do any

[3:06:51] of this that we were talking about. They

[3:06:53] need their parents. They need a role

[3:06:55] model. They need a big sister, like a

[3:06:58] big brother club, you know, like there's

[3:07:01] so many solutions that we can do where

[3:07:04] it's not going to cost any money.

[3:07:07] So, that's all I have to say. Thank you

[3:07:09] very much for everybody coming.

[3:07:12] >> Thank you. That's time.

[3:07:13] >> Have a good night.

[3:07:18] Hey guys, Janet Bowden, Ward 2. Uh, we

[3:07:21] finally got an emergency meeting

[3:07:22] tonight. I'm not going to hold back my

[3:07:24] feelings. Um, I don't think this is

[3:07:26] because Carl woke up and decided to lead

[3:07:29] because residents um this is actually

[3:07:31] because a residents and a counselor

[3:07:33] pushed hard enough that he had no

[3:07:34] choice. A month ago, we had a community

[3:07:37] meeting and Carl didn't show. He

[3:07:39] actually said he never planned on

[3:07:40] attending because there was a Republican

[3:07:43] gubanatorial candidate and a

[3:07:44] conservative news outlet that organized

[3:07:46] the event when he wouldn't step up. So,

[3:07:49] he picked politics over people. And

[3:07:51] since then, downtown hasn't gotten any

[3:07:53] safer. It's gotten worse.

[3:07:56] The month of June alone has resulted in

[3:07:58] 11 incidents involving juveniles with

[3:08:00] guns.

[3:08:01] We can all see that this isn't just bad

[3:08:03] luck or a handful of incidents. We've

[3:08:05] got a youth justice system that is

[3:08:07] broken.

[3:08:09] Juveniles get released, they end up back

[3:08:11] on the streets, and we have to

[3:08:13] experience the next gun-related

[3:08:14] incident. Restorative justice alone is

[3:08:17] not working. We need higher

[3:08:19] accountability for juveniles caught with

[3:08:20] firearms. We need to stop pretending

[3:08:22] this cycle is going to fix itself. Carl

[3:08:25] refuses to own the problem, refuses to

[3:08:27] engage in the community when we ask him

[3:08:30] to, and then acts like this meeting is

[3:08:31] the solution. It's not. I have

[3:08:34] personally reached out to you through

[3:08:36] text, through Facebook Messenger,

[3:08:38] through um social media asking you for

[3:08:42] what your plan is. What are you doing?

[3:08:44] How are you helping the community in in

[3:08:47] this tragedy? And you have completely

[3:08:50] ignored me.

[3:08:52] So, let's talk about solutions.

[3:08:55] start in Augusta. City Hall

[3:08:58] can respond after the fact, but the laws

[3:09:01] that shape youth accountability and

[3:09:03] public safety come from the state. If we

[3:09:06] keep sending the same people from the

[3:09:08] same political party back to Augusta

[3:09:11] with the same power, absolutely nothing

[3:09:14] is going to change

[3:09:16] this fall. Just vote for different

[3:09:18] representatives.

[3:09:20] real change in leadership, real

[3:09:22] accountability because Lewon can't

[3:09:24] afford another term of wait and see and

[3:09:26] let's look the other way. Thank you.

[3:09:33] » Further public comment.

[3:09:36] [clears throat]

[3:09:37] >> Before I start, I just want to say Carl,

[3:09:39] I don't think a lot of people realize

[3:09:40] that this was an official city council

[3:09:42] meeting and that's why there was

[3:09:44] applause for the presenters. People were

[3:09:46] trying to show appreciation and respect.

[3:09:48] Um, I think maybe you could have made an

[3:09:51] announcement at the beginning that even

[3:09:53] though we're not in city council

[3:09:54] chambers, the same expectations apply.

[3:09:57] Um, but I don't think people were

[3:09:58] intentionally breaking your rules.

[3:10:01] Uh, uh, that wasn't supposed to be part

[3:10:04] of my time. That was just feedback to

[3:10:05] Carl. This has been a long and

[3:10:07] exasperating evening, especially since,

[3:10:09] like Janet said, a bunch of us did this

[3:10:11] already. You just refused to attend. You

[3:10:13] lied about what it was. your your lie is

[3:10:15] in writing that it was some sort of

[3:10:18] candidate event and it wasn't. Um,

[3:10:22] so yeah, we we listened to a lot of that

[3:10:24] and in the beginning it was great and

[3:10:25] then we listened to a lot of people

[3:10:27] patting themselves on the back for not

[3:10:29] solving this problem. I'm absolutely

[3:10:31] mind-b blown that a teenager can shoot

[3:10:33] up an apartment building, go to Long

[3:10:34] Creek and nobody says shooting that

[3:10:36] apartment building was wrong. Nobody

[3:10:39] addresses that with them. What? No

[3:10:41] wonder they get out and do it again.

[3:10:43] This is insane.

[3:10:46] This meeting was supposed to be about

[3:10:48] solving this issue, but it has

[3:10:49] absolutely devolved into turning the

[3:10:50] shooters into the victims. Oh, these

[3:10:52] poor kids. We need to give these poor

[3:10:54] kids more activities. You know what?

[3:10:56] That man over there that you tell to go

[3:10:58] away that you won't let speak. Spends

[3:11:00] time in Kennedy Park. Zero of you have

[3:11:02] been down in Kennedy Park talking to the

[3:11:04] kids. He has. He was shooting basketball

[3:11:06] with kids. He was inviting the community

[3:11:08] to this meeting. He was asking people

[3:11:09] for solutions.

[3:11:12] He spoke to a man who wants to do

[3:11:13] exactly what Mike Roy suggested and

[3:11:15] wants to organize teams of kids to play

[3:11:17] sports. Why can't you connect with your

[3:11:21] community?

[3:11:25] Why does it take a man from Scar Bro

[3:11:27] that you want to lie and say is just a

[3:11:28] blogger to connect with the youth in

[3:11:30] your community about shootings?

[3:11:35] We heard from Chris Bicknell that more

[3:11:37] money would solve this problem. And then

[3:11:39] we heard that he's getting lots of

[3:11:41] money. And just so everyone in this room

[3:11:42] knows, he also got mass shooting money.

[3:11:45] Zero of the nonprofits that got mass

[3:11:47] shooting money did anything to address

[3:11:48] this problem. Eman Osman's nonprofit got

[3:11:51] mass shooting money. Eman Osman left a

[3:11:53] gun in his car unlocked. Eman Osman was

[3:11:55] not charged with criminal negligence.

[3:11:57] Eman Osman was not held accountable by

[3:11:59] the school committee. Eman Osman was

[3:12:02] then put on the ballot illegally and put

[3:12:03] on this city council. You guys are

[3:12:06] intentionally destroying Lewiston and we

[3:12:08] see it. Scott is the only one on that

[3:12:10] council that has power to change it and

[3:12:12] I think he has zero intention.

[3:12:14] I think that because he ignored my email

[3:12:16] when I when I sent him a screenshot of

[3:12:18] his email to a constituent from last

[3:12:20] September where he said he was

[3:12:21] diligently working on this issue and I

[3:12:23] said really how what are you diligently

[3:12:25] doing please? He is my representative in

[3:12:27] Augusta.

[3:12:29] He will not speak to me. He does not

[3:12:32] deserve that seat. I would like people

[3:12:34] to know that there are candidates on the

[3:12:37] ballot that are in this room. Please

[3:12:39] vote for them and not

[3:12:42] come. That's time to stop. I'm just

[3:12:44] going to repeat it till they hear me. So

[3:12:46] just be safe.

[3:12:47] >> Thank you.

[3:12:49] >> Vote for the people that time. There's

[3:12:51] no campaigning. Thank you.

[3:12:58] » Further public comment. Thank you.

[3:13:05] Good evening. My name is Destiny. I'm

[3:13:07] from Windham. I'm not from Lucen. I'm a

[3:13:10] Lucen shooting survivor.

[3:13:13] Like many people in this community, the

[3:13:15] Lucing shooting on October 25th, 2023

[3:13:18] changed my life forever. 18 innocent

[3:13:21] people lost their lives. Many others

[3:13:23] were injured and survivors and families

[3:13:26] continue to carry the trauma every day.

[3:13:29] After everything this community endured,

[3:13:31] many residents expected our leaders to

[3:13:34] focus first and foremost on public

[3:13:36] safety and accountability. Instead, we

[3:13:39] have watched Mayor Carl Shelene devote

[3:13:41] significant time and energy to opposing

[3:13:44] federal federal immigration enforcement

[3:13:47] efforts and supporting policies that

[3:13:49] many residents believe make cooperation

[3:13:52] with federal authorities more difficult.

[3:13:55] The lessons from the Lewis shooting

[3:13:56] should have pushed all of us to focus

[3:13:59] relentlessly on public safety,

[3:14:01] communication between agencies, and

[3:14:03] preventing other tragedies from

[3:14:05] happening again. Many residents feel the

[3:14:08] city leadership has focused more

[3:14:10] attention on political issues than on

[3:14:12] the concerns of the people who live here

[3:14:14] every day. This should not be about

[3:14:17] politics or political parties. It's

[3:14:19] about priorities.

[3:14:22] Mayor, what are you waiting for? Another

[3:14:24] tragedy like the one caused by Robert

[3:14:27] Card on October 25th?

[3:14:32] Questions still remain about your role

[3:14:33] as a board member of the main mill and

[3:14:36] whether the relationship created a

[3:14:37] conflict of interest after $65,521.79

[3:14:42] was directed to the nonprofit.

[3:14:46] Lon deserves leadership that puts

[3:14:49] [sighs] the safety

[3:14:52] in residents first, listens to survivors

[3:14:56] and families, and focuses on rebuilding

[3:14:58] trust in a community. We owe that to the

[3:15:01] 18 people who never came out, who never

[3:15:04] came home and to every survivor whose

[3:15:07] life changed forever on October 25th,

[3:15:09] 2023. Thank you.

[3:15:15] Further public comment.

[3:15:19] >> Hi, my name is Die Pum Whittier and I'm

[3:15:21] a Louison Ward 2 resident and I'm here

[3:15:24] tonight because I love Louisston young

[3:15:26] people and I want to thank everybody

[3:15:28] that came out tonight and I feel that

[3:15:30] Lon should be really proud of itself

[3:15:32] that there are officials and

[3:15:34] professionals from the state and local

[3:15:37] uh community who want to do something to

[3:15:39] help young people. Uh, I've been uh a

[3:15:42] longtime youth advocate and I've been

[3:15:44] reading a lot lately about juvenile gun

[3:15:46] violence and I found an approach and

[3:15:49] maybe LPD is aware of this. It's called

[3:15:52] violence interruption and it uh reduces

[3:15:55] juvenile gun violence by meaningfully

[3:15:58] engaging with a small number of

[3:16:00] individuals at the center of gun

[3:16:02] violence. And that caught my attention

[3:16:04] because we've repeatedly heard that the

[3:16:07] youth that are involved in gun violence

[3:16:09] tend to be a small group. So, we know

[3:16:12] who they are. And I'm not an expert on

[3:16:14] this subject by any means, and I don't

[3:16:17] mean to use this as any excuse, but

[3:16:20] anger, fighting, and violence within our

[3:16:23] youth often come from a place of trauma,

[3:16:26] pain, no hope, frustration, fear, and no

[3:16:30] support systems. I believe their actions

[3:16:34] deserve consequences and accountability,

[3:16:38] but I also believe that we need to

[3:16:40] remember that these young people are in

[3:16:43] trouble and they're living a downward

[3:16:46] spiral.

[3:16:48] I would propose along with that violence

[3:16:51] interruption approach to seek guidance

[3:16:54] and do some brainstorming from school

[3:16:56] counselors, mental health professionals,

[3:16:59] some of the officers involved in

[3:17:00] community policing and see if we can put

[3:17:03] together some sort of street outreach

[3:17:06] that can meet these kids where they are,

[3:17:09] some type of mentorship connection. I've

[3:17:12] mentioned a young per mentored a young

[3:17:13] person for 26 years. I started when she

[3:17:15] was nine and it's very rewarding and I

[3:17:18] know that there are people in this room

[3:17:20] that love our youth and would be willing

[3:17:23] to you know go along with certain

[3:17:25] guidelines and guidance to reach out and

[3:17:28] really meet these kids where they are. I

[3:17:30] really strongly feel that if um they see

[3:17:34] that we believe in their potential some

[3:17:37] of them might consider something other

[3:17:39] than violence and become role models for

[3:17:42] those around them. And certainly we all

[3:17:44] need someone who believes in us. Thank

[3:17:47] you.

[3:17:53] My name is Amy Ranger and I am um in

[3:17:56] Ward 7 and I teach at Lewon High School.

[3:17:59] And a lot of people have mentioned

[3:18:02] tonight where the parents and I'm coming

[3:18:04] from the perspective of having had a

[3:18:06] student who was involved in one of these

[3:18:08] acts of violence.

[3:18:10] uh knowing him personally the some the

[3:18:14] people I'm thinking of he doesn't have

[3:18:16] parents

[3:18:17] um

[3:18:20] so the conversation about holding

[3:18:22] parents accountable I'm thinking about

[3:18:24] this kid who I know is a good caring

[3:18:29] young young kid

[3:18:33] who

[3:18:35] made a very very very bad choice but has

[3:18:39] no guidance at

[3:18:41] So, I'm really in support of a lot of

[3:18:43] the conversations around

[3:18:45] helping kids find an activity or or

[3:18:47] something that would get them connected

[3:18:49] to the community. And I'm thinking about

[3:18:51] this kid and the the barriers to him

[3:18:55] getting help. Like he he wanted to be in

[3:18:57] sports. I was trying to help him get in

[3:18:59] sports. He didn't have a physical. He

[3:19:02] hadn't had a physical. He didn't have

[3:19:03] health insurance. I'm calling his

[3:19:04] caregiver. It wasn't his parent. It was

[3:19:06] there was so many barriers. and uh he

[3:19:09] didn't end up getting involved in

[3:19:10] sports. And then

[3:19:12] so I I'm I'm in in strong um I'm

[3:19:17] thinking about if if there's a way that

[3:19:19] anyone here

[3:19:22] can be supportive of teachers at Lewis.

[3:19:26] Um

[3:19:28] have conversations with teachers because

[3:19:30] they're the ones that are directly in

[3:19:31] connection with these kids. Um thank you

[3:19:34] so much

[3:19:42] Matthew, Ward 4. Let's start this off

[3:19:46] and be perfectly honest. Teenagers have

[3:19:48] done dumb things since the beginning of

[3:19:51] time, and they're going to continue to

[3:19:53] do them.

[3:19:55] But

[3:19:58] we also need our parents and guardians

[3:20:01] to be the adult role models and yet not

[3:20:05] be afraid that because they're going to

[3:20:07] be this adult role model that they're

[3:20:09] going to be have DHS called on them

[3:20:12] because they're being hard on these kids

[3:20:18] because I listen where has been DHS

[3:20:21] Office of Child Family Services in

[3:20:22] supporting these kids and families?

[3:20:26] We know the sad truth is when these kids

[3:20:29] edge out of the system, there is no

[3:20:31] support from the state.

[3:20:38] Then I have a real good question. How

[3:20:40] many of these guns that have been taken

[3:20:42] off the street were acquired here

[3:20:45] locally within our community not just

[3:20:49] stolen but bought by somebody versus how

[3:20:53] many of them are from away?

[3:20:56] And then have the ones who were

[3:20:59] who weren't stolen but bought and given

[3:21:01] away have they been charged with crimes?

[3:21:06] Our kids need people to believe in them,

[3:21:08] care in them, because when you support

[3:21:10] them, they know there's somebody out

[3:21:11] there who cares about what they do, and

[3:21:13] they'll want to continue this,

[3:21:16] continue your support. I know this

[3:21:18] because I've done it for multiple kids

[3:21:20] and young adults. I just got a kid to go

[3:21:24] back to college after she's been out of

[3:21:26] college for two years

[3:21:30] because she needed someone to believe in

[3:21:32] her that she could do it.

[3:21:36] Now, instead of returning these young

[3:21:39] offenders to their same stomping

[3:21:41] grounds, their same friends, their same

[3:21:45] everything, have we looked at using the

[3:21:47] kinship logic and shipping them to

[3:21:49] family members, maybe outside of their

[3:21:52] exact community? Maybe that will allow

[3:21:54] them to change their trajectory in life.

[3:21:58] But part of the other problem these kids

[3:22:00] are seeing is they're seeing the

[3:22:03] long-term effects of the lack of

[3:22:05] enforcement, be it in drug dealing and

[3:22:08] prostitution here in Lewon, and the lack

[3:22:10] of what I will call the broken window

[3:22:14] crimes. So that they see that there's no

[3:22:16] response, no punishment. Why should we

[3:22:19] change?

[3:22:23] Finally, Long Creek is not a happy

[3:22:26] place.

[3:22:27] where we have to where our kids get

[3:22:29] sent. We used to have a lawn and

[3:22:30] Goodwill Hinckley among others that used

[3:22:33] to run along the very same lines. The

[3:22:36] kids that went there

[3:22:38] earned their way up and out of the

[3:22:40] system by accountability. These kids

[3:22:42] will tell you it was never a nice

[3:22:45] >> Thank you.

[3:23:01] Good evening. My name is Joel Burian and

[3:23:03] I'm a um

[3:23:06] uh live in Lewon and and Susan is uh my

[3:23:09] council person.

[3:23:12] >> Can you see what I can do? Press button.

[3:23:15] How's that? That better?

[3:23:20] just lean in when you talk.

[3:23:22] >> Okay. Uh my uh coming into this meeting,

[3:23:27] I knew that it would probably be very

[3:23:29] difficult to talk. Any type of violence

[3:23:32] issue that you deal with is very

[3:23:33] difficult for anybody community and in

[3:23:36] as well as the victims as well as

[3:23:38] others. I've had the privilege of

[3:23:40] working with a number of trauma victims

[3:23:42] in in my role as a social worker, not

[3:23:44] only here, but in two other states,

[3:23:47] [snorts] including uh suicide as well as

[3:23:50] violence toward others, uh including gun

[3:23:53] violence. What I hear tonight is a

[3:23:56] number of good ideas from a number of

[3:23:58] dedicated people and I think there's

[3:24:00] some solutions here. I know that the

[3:24:03] district attorney has talked about some

[3:24:05] of his needs. The police chief has

[3:24:07] talked about her needs as well as other

[3:24:09] people on the city council. I think one

[3:24:11] of the things is that if we're focusing

[3:24:13] in on maybe the youth violence issue,

[3:24:15] one thing is to make sure that the

[3:24:18] people that are have a stake in this,

[3:24:20] especially the people that are involved

[3:24:22] in doing these things dayto-day have not

[3:24:25] only the resources but also the ability

[3:24:27] to work together. An idea might be that

[3:24:30] when we have kids that commit these crimes or involved in it, there is

[3:24:34] a mechanism to bring community together

[3:24:37] to say this is what we need. This is

[3:24:39] what we need to make sure we're

[3:24:41] protecting the people in the community,

[3:24:43] but also making sure I think a strong

[3:24:46] kind of a wraparound model that was

[3:24:48] described earlier by the Department of

[3:24:50] Corrections might be an option being

[3:24:53] able to do that. The other thing is is

[3:24:55] that coming together as a group in the

[3:24:58] community to talk about issues relating

[3:25:00] to what's needed. It's better to work it

[3:25:03] together and then you approach the

[3:25:05] attorney you I'm sorry you approach the legislature or whoever you want to

[3:25:09] get funding for as a group as a

[3:25:11] community to say this is what we can use

[3:25:13] in Lewon and maybe addressing this issue

[3:25:16] right now might allow other things to

[3:25:18] happen to improve what needs to happen.

[3:25:21] But I think there's a lot of good people

[3:25:23] here. It's just like coming together and

[3:25:25] saying, you know, as a group, we're

[3:25:27] going to do it together. So that's just

[3:25:29] my point. And thank you so much for

[3:25:31] having this meeting tonight. Thank you.

[3:25:41] I'm so short.

[3:25:46] Can you hear me? Okay. My name is

[3:25:48] Melissa Dunn. I'm a community organizer

[3:25:50] in Lewon. I've been doing antiviolence

[3:25:52] efforts since 2018 or even prior than

[3:25:56] that. Um doing peace marches, vigils,

[3:25:59] trying to go to ground zero where

[3:26:00] incidents of violence happened in

[3:26:02] community to um offer community

[3:26:05] response, get comm people connected to

[3:26:07] resources. Network continued uh even a

[3:26:12] two or three summers ago when we started

[3:26:14] having shootings and we went to ground

[3:26:17] zeros. We knocked on doors. We talked to

[3:26:19] neighbors. We talked to impacted

[3:26:20] families. We even talked to youth who

[3:26:23] had bullets in their bodies

[3:26:26] um since then. And so um there's been

[3:26:29] extensive conversations especially

[3:26:31] restorative justice processes and

[3:26:33] restorative practices for impacted

[3:26:35] community especially the youth who may

[3:26:38] have witnessed this this kind of

[3:26:40] violence or became a target because they

[3:26:44] shared the same name as somebody

[3:26:47] wi with in this violence and feared for

[3:26:50] their lives. And um out of our

[3:26:53] discussions for a community program uh

[3:26:55] the mothers and the youth came up with

[3:26:58] an afterchool program to be more

[3:27:01] designed specific to their cultural

[3:27:03] needs and uh so I would ask community to

[3:27:07] trust in community to lead their own uh

[3:27:11] issues especially around prevention and

[3:27:14] awareness. It's a fallacy and it's

[3:27:16] inaccurate information, misinformation,

[3:27:19] disinformation to say that nothing has

[3:27:21] been done about uh antiviolence efforts

[3:27:23] in Lewon. Now, gun violence has always

[3:27:26] existed in Lewon. When I was a teenager,

[3:27:29] I was beat with a handgun from the guy

[3:27:32] that I was with at the time. Broken nose

[3:27:34] concussions, and that was in teen dating

[3:27:36] violence I experienced being trafficked.

[3:27:38] And I know as a 45 year old woman uh

[3:27:43] that uh and experiencing more gun

[3:27:45] violence and domestic violence that

[3:27:47] domestic violence is interconnected to

[3:27:50] gun violence. And so I'd ask people to

[3:27:53] check biases when we're talking about or

[3:27:55] referring to kids who are in survival as

[3:27:58] gangs or gang activity or that the

[3:28:00] assumption they must be involved in

[3:28:02] drugs because um because of my close

[3:28:05] work and I'm not going to share details

[3:28:06] here. Um, I know that uh they're they're

[3:28:11] more so having access to these weapons

[3:28:14] for survival. And it should tell the

[3:28:16] community something

[3:28:18] and what we're feeling in if if youth

[3:28:22] feel they have no other choice for

[3:28:24] safety. If they're resorting to firearms

[3:28:27] for safety or survival and the police,

[3:28:31] we want to believe that they're going to

[3:28:32] save us, but they're not. They don't

[3:28:34] answer the call. They're not there. It's

[3:28:36] community, our connections with one

[3:28:38] another. Thank you,

[3:28:46] » Ronnie Parody, W 6. Uh, I just wanted to

[3:28:50] bring up and I know the city council has

[3:28:52] heard me several times that was

[3:28:54] mentioned about public health. you did

[3:28:57] not pass the public health person that

[3:29:00] we wanted this year. And it's really

[3:29:03] disappointing because we really need a

[3:29:06] public health officer in Lon. If we're

[3:29:09] not using a public health because of

[3:29:12] money, we need to seek a grant or we

[3:29:15] need to use a we're not using a public

[3:29:17] health committee the way it should be

[3:29:20] used. We should be using the committee

[3:29:22] that it comes at least twice a year to

[3:29:24] council. We need meetings on public

[3:29:27] health and gun violence is a public

[3:29:30] health problem. I worked downtown Lon as

[3:29:33] a public health nurse from 2005 to 2015.

[3:29:38] I never had any problems down working

[3:29:41] down in Lon and I've been in every

[3:29:43] single apartment house in downtown Lon,

[3:29:46] believe me. And I grew up in downtown

[3:29:49] Luc when it was really nice. Um but

[3:29:52] anyway, we need public health and we

[3:29:55] need it. We need to get our committees

[3:29:58] from the seniors to the thing. We are

[3:30:01] not using our advisory committees the

[3:30:04] way they should be used. Please do

[3:30:06] something about public health. We need

[3:30:08] that. Look for a grant and everything

[3:30:12] like that. Uh I know you heard me

[3:30:15] before. You'll hear me again at city

[3:30:17] council meetings. I'm pushing for public

[3:30:20] health and it really needs to be in this

[3:30:23] city. Thank you.

[3:30:29] » Hi there. My name is Gail Bander

[3:30:32] Sylvester. I was born in Lewon. I

[3:30:35] graduated from Lewon High School in

[3:30:38] 1985.

[3:30:39] I left Maine for a long time, then came

[3:30:42] back to Lewon to be near my parents. I

[3:30:46] was at the door handing out flyers. The

[3:30:50] flyer title is the best gun control

[3:30:53] ever. I'm inviting all of you if you

[3:30:57] weren't if you didn't get my flyer,

[3:31:00] they're on the table. I'm inviting all

[3:31:03] of you to a meet and greet at Nutty

[3:31:06] Netty's on July 25th.

[3:31:10] 1:30 to 2:00 will be a meet and greet

[3:31:14] and 2:00 will be the first meeting of a

[3:31:18] new organization called DOA

[3:31:24] and there are three initial goals.

[3:31:29] One is to plan free workshops for

[3:31:32] parents and their children. 2hour

[3:31:36] workshops to be held in different

[3:31:39] locations around the city wherever we

[3:31:42] can do them at businesses at adult

[3:31:46] education in the schools at the

[3:31:49] libraries in the park wherever whoever

[3:31:53] will help help will host a meeting. So,

[3:31:56] I'm looking for volunteers. Whatever

[3:31:58] your interest is, you can teach a 2hour

[3:32:03] workshop.

[3:32:04] It can be about sports, a sports clinic.

[3:32:08] It can be about a uh in the arts,

[3:32:11] something with art, music, business, it

[3:32:15] can be any topic. We need to get our

[3:32:18] kids interested in their own lives. We

[3:32:22] need them to have interests and we need

[3:32:26] to make it possible for them to pursue

[3:32:29] their goals. The second objective is to

[3:32:32] establish a write in a a drop in

[3:32:37] [clears throat] excuse me writing center

[3:32:39] and resource center for adults also at

[3:32:42] the workshops. I forgot to say that

[3:32:45] that's for the parents and the kids. The

[3:32:47] kids will be doing the activities and

[3:32:50] the the adults will be having uh

[3:32:53] education about how they can further

[3:32:57] their children's interests.

[3:33:01] um to establish a writing drop in and

[3:33:04] resource center where kids can come and

[3:33:08] do art and write and where parents can

[3:33:12] pick up equipment,

[3:33:15] paper, whatever they need for their kids

[3:33:18] to do at home. The third initiative is

[3:33:22] adopt a child program.

[3:33:26] partners will seek sponsors for children

[3:33:29] interested in lessons.

[3:33:31] >> That's time. Thank you.

[3:33:32] >> Thank you. Please come and please pick

[3:33:34] up a brochure.

[3:33:36] >> Thank you. That's time. Further public

[3:33:37] comment.

[3:33:44] » My name is Troy and I'm in Ward 4.

[3:33:48] I want to kind of take a different angle

[3:33:50] just a little bit. Uh, I wanted to reach

[3:33:53] out to whoever's watching this online.

[3:33:56] And if you have any friends that aren't

[3:33:58] here, get people more uh involved. It'd

[3:34:02] be nice to have more people show up,

[3:34:05] some different faces to come in here,

[3:34:07] maybe some different opinions.

[3:34:09] Uh, also to kind of get back on topic, I

[3:34:13] would fully support bringing in a

[3:34:16] three-letter agency

[3:34:19] um of any letter combination you want to

[3:34:22] do. IC, FBI, ATF, DEA, whatever. Bring

[3:34:27] those people in here and clean house.

[3:34:30] Get these people out of here. Um, the

[3:34:34] other thing is,

[3:34:39] sorry I lost track of uh where I was

[3:34:41] going with that.

[3:34:43] Oh yes, excuse me. So, the thing that

[3:34:46] really uh ticks me off the most about

[3:34:49] the gun stuff currently is that we've

[3:34:52] been very fortunate

[3:34:55] so far that this hasn't killed anybody

[3:34:59] in this room. hasn't killed. I think one

[3:35:02] person has died. Sorry, I don't have

[3:35:05] those stats on me. I think one person

[3:35:07] has died and that's it. I know some

[3:35:08] people have been hit, haven't died,

[3:35:11] whatever. So far,

[3:35:14] none of us have died, but there's a good

[3:35:17] chance it could come. And uh the thing

[3:35:20] that ticks me off the most is that I'm a

[3:35:23] two-way guy and

[3:35:27] I've done everything by the book my

[3:35:29] whole life. I've paid all my bills. I've

[3:35:31] obeyed the law. I pay my taxes. I mow my

[3:35:34] lawn. I bring my trash out. I have a

[3:35:36] nice place. I do all the right things.

[3:35:39] And some jerk is going to make me

[3:35:43] change my some jerk is going to change

[3:35:45] my life that I never wanted to do

[3:35:49] because they decided that they had a

[3:35:52] different objective and they were going

[3:35:54] to

[3:35:56] insert themselves into my future.

[3:36:00] And I don't want that for me and I don't

[3:36:02] want that for anybody else that protects

[3:36:04] themselves that they have to then defend

[3:36:07] themselves and now they are screwed

[3:36:11] forever because you don't just get to

[3:36:13] protect yourself and go on your merry

[3:36:14] way. It's not how it works. So that's

[3:36:18] what fries my ass. Have a nice day.

[3:36:24] Further public comment.

[3:36:27] Good evening. My name is Rick Lapp

[3:36:29] Chappelle. I am angry that we have

[3:36:31] reached this point. Before we can fix

[3:36:34] these problems, we must be honest about

[3:36:36] how we got here. We must have the

[3:36:38] courage to acknowledge where we have

[3:36:40] failed. Parents, we all have a

[3:36:44] responsibility to raise our children

[3:36:45] with respect, discipline, and

[3:36:48] accountability. Our young people need

[3:36:50] guidance, expectations, and

[3:36:52] consequences.

[3:36:54] To our city council and the mayor, you

[3:36:57] have failed to lead on three serious

[3:37:00] issues facing Lenon. Rather than

[3:37:03] confronting them, you have repeatedly

[3:37:05] refuse to address them. Youth violence,

[3:37:08] the needle epidemic, and the handling of

[3:37:11] funds intended for the victims of the

[3:37:12] Lewon tragedy have demanded action. Yet

[3:37:16] too often they have been met with

[3:37:18] silence or delay. The people of Lewon

[3:37:21] deserve leaders who will face difficult

[3:37:23] issues head-on instead of pushing them

[3:37:25] aside. I want to thank Brett Mel and

[3:37:28] Susan Long Champamps for showing

[3:37:30] leadership on the issue of youth

[3:37:32] violence. We need more people willing to

[3:37:34] step forward and confront the difficult

[3:37:36] problems.

[3:37:38] Our state legislative delegations. All

[3:37:41] four representatives and our senator

[3:37:43] also bear responsibilities.

[3:37:46] Lewon deserves stronger advocacy and

[3:37:49] real action from Augusta. I've only

[3:37:51] noticed one of them here this evening.

[3:37:55] If this meeting is truly about finding

[3:37:57] solutions, we need honest conversations,

[3:38:01] real accountability, and leaders who are

[3:38:03] committed to making Lewon better. Not

[3:38:06] just talking about it, but doing the

[3:38:08] hard work to make it happen. Remember,

[3:38:11] leadership means confronting difficult

[3:38:14] problems, not avoiding them. Thank you.

[3:38:20] » Further public comment.

[3:38:23] >> Hello, my name is Brandy Walton. I'm

[3:38:26] from Ward 4. I've learned so much here

[3:38:29] tonight. Um, this is my first city

[3:38:31] council meeting, so I am in very

[3:38:34] encouraged um to be able to know that

[3:38:37] there are people in the community that

[3:38:38] care about important subjects. Um, I'm

[3:38:42] really here because I heard National

[3:38:44] Guard and in the comments I hear ICE.

[3:38:48] And what would we do to prepare the

[3:38:52] companies, the local businesses that run

[3:38:55] Lewon and have for years and years that

[3:38:58] have the very signs up that don't want

[3:39:00] them there. The people that feel like

[3:39:03] they have been racial prof racially

[3:39:05] profiled. our kids and our neighbors who

[3:39:08] might not look like the kid that came

[3:39:10] from the perfect mom and dad's family

[3:39:13] and may, you know, go go in certain

[3:39:15] parts of the city that might seem that

[3:39:17] they're in there for the wrong reasons.

[3:39:20] Um to basically make sure they feel safe

[3:39:22] as well. the people, the kids that um we

[3:39:27] know the bad taste that ICE and National

[3:39:29] Guard and really a lot of people in

[3:39:31] uniform put in the citizens

[3:39:34] heart now, especially the young people.

[3:39:37] They've seen a lot on TV just on

[3:39:39] Facebook alone.

[3:39:41] the amount of negative, disgusting

[3:39:44] comments that are made and hearing how

[3:39:47] hard that these people in these

[3:39:49] positions are working, knowing that the

[3:39:51] Lewon Police Department is down 11 and

[3:39:54] one on medical leave. You don't know

[3:39:56] that. being a Facebook warrior going

[3:39:59] around and following the biggest news

[3:40:01] and to really get involved and to hear

[3:40:03] what these people are doing and the time

[3:40:05] they're taking away from their families

[3:40:07] to be able to ensure that stuff is

[3:40:09] moving forward. My hats go off to you

[3:40:11] Long Creek and everybody else that's

[3:40:14] doing the work. I'm sure there's common

[3:40:16] ground, but if you're going to be having

[3:40:19] people in the the city that's going to

[3:40:22] be trying to help bring ordinance, and

[3:40:25] it very mel well may be needed where we

[3:40:27] are so short staffed in the agencies,

[3:40:31] but what can we do to help welcome them

[3:40:34] with the people that aren't the bad

[3:40:36] people, that aren't making bad choices,

[3:40:38] um to make them feel safe and want them

[3:40:41] in their neighborhoods, um in their

[3:40:43] schools, around their schools, I

[3:40:45] couldn't imagine going outside on Lisbon

[3:40:47] Street and seeing National Guards

[3:40:49] walking up and down. That alone is scary

[3:40:52] to a lot of people. So, what will we do

[3:40:55] to ease the minds of the people that

[3:40:56] we're trying to protect without, you

[3:41:00] know, I know a lot of you know what I'm

[3:41:02] talking about and I know a lot of you

[3:41:04] won't say anything. So, I'm here today

[3:41:06] to say something. I

[3:41:09] if we can do it with a way that we can

[3:41:12] trust the people in uniform, I think

[3:41:14] it's a great idea. But if we're coming

[3:41:16] in hotaded and get them out of here and

[3:41:19] those people and that's not going to

[3:41:21] solve anything. In fact, I might put a

[3:41:24] sign on my door.

[3:41:25] >> That's time. Thank you.

[3:41:26] >> Thank you.

[3:41:31] » Hi, Wendy McPike. I'm a taxpayer in

[3:41:34] Lewon. Um this has been a very helpful

[3:41:39] evening. I really appreciate all the

[3:41:42] people that have come and shared

[3:41:43] different perspectives

[3:41:45] um different insight of different things

[3:41:48] that they've experienced that they know

[3:41:50] the research things about Long Creek I

[3:41:53] didn't know um things about the school

[3:41:55] and what they're doing. Um I really

[3:41:58] appreciate all of that. Um it's helpful

[3:42:01] and also the resources that are here.

[3:42:04] And one of the things that I've my

[3:42:06] husband and I talk about a lot is there

[3:42:08] are a lot of people in Lewon and a lot

[3:42:11] of organizations and agencies,

[3:42:13] nonprofits doing a lot in Lewon. And I

[3:42:16] I'm hopeful that this um meeting that

[3:42:20] they're going to be having at Nutty

[3:42:21] Netties there, I say that right. um that

[3:42:24] they're going to have some of those

[3:42:26] people come to that meeting to discuss

[3:42:28] what they're doing, where some gaps

[3:42:31] might be, who can fill those gaps within

[3:42:33] those organizations and within those

[3:42:35] communities because these kids we're

[3:42:36] talking about are the future of our

[3:42:40] country, the future of our town, the

[3:42:42] future of this city. So, it's important

[3:42:45] that we don't just dismiss them and that

[3:42:48] we try to look for ways to help them and

[3:42:50] show them that we give a crap. Um,

[3:42:53] because they're they're here. They're

[3:42:55] our future. They're going to be taking

[3:42:57] care of us someday. So, it's we need to

[3:43:00] show that we care and in a way that's

[3:43:02] meaningful. Um, and if it means more

[3:43:05] funding, we're all everybody's short

[3:43:07] staffed everywhere. Um, it's an issue

[3:43:10] and there seems to be some tangible

[3:43:13] things that we can do and just paying

[3:43:16] attention, saying hello, not continuing

[3:43:20] the divide that was talked about earlier

[3:43:22] today. Um, that we come together as a

[3:43:25] community and stop pointing the fingers

[3:43:27] and try to figure out how to help these

[3:43:30] youth that are our future. So, that was

[3:43:34] kind of my thing. I had something else,

[3:43:35] but I didn't write it down. So anyway,

[3:43:37] that's it.

[3:43:40] >> Last call for public comment.

[3:43:57] My name is Robert Blasby. I live in W 6.

[3:44:00] And at this point, I'm just kind of

[3:44:02] hoping I'm not one of those people or

[3:44:04] them.

[3:44:05] Hoping I'm not mistaken as

[3:44:09] one of those or one of them. I hear that

[3:44:12] a lot. Seen it a lot on Facebook. Kind

[3:44:14] of feel like that's where part of this

[3:44:16] problem lies. It's a matter of culture.

[3:44:19] I haven't been here too long in Lewon.

[3:44:22] Um as a matter of fact, today I'm

[3:44:23] breaking one of my cardinal rules, which

[3:44:25] is if I haven't prepared something to

[3:44:27] speak, I don't speak. But today I kind

[3:44:30] of felt compelled to speak

[3:44:33] because I had more hope coming here

[3:44:36] today than I am leaving with hope. Not

[3:44:39] hopeless, but I have less hope.

[3:44:45] I've listened to some of the questions

[3:44:46] being asked which

[3:44:50] we probably could have found out on

[3:44:51] Google. We have AGs here who are working

[3:44:56] tirelessly to protect us.

[3:44:58] We have other people here who work for

[3:45:01] other agencies and we have no idea what

[3:45:04] it takes to do their job. We don't know

[3:45:05] where their funding streams are. We

[3:45:07] don't know that they're underst staffed.

[3:45:10] And what everyone is met with is the one

[3:45:13] thing I didn't come here for, which is

[3:45:14] political debacery.

[3:45:17] Both sides. I don't care who you are. I

[3:45:19] don't care what ward you're from. It's

[3:45:21] them or us. When I moved here, I saw I

[3:45:24] closed on my house hours around the

[3:45:26] shooting and all I saw was Lewon Strong

[3:45:29] all over the place. Blew everywhere. I

[3:45:31] felt included in that.

[3:45:35] I don't know. I kind of feel like it's a

[3:45:36] little bit more divisive now than

[3:45:38] anything else. And that's everyone's

[3:45:39] problem. That's all of your problems who

[3:45:42] represent us and it's everybody else's

[3:45:44] problem who's sitting here. I haven't

[3:45:46] heard anything productive today. I've

[3:45:48] heard a lot of blaming, a lot of

[3:45:50] fingerpointing, but nothing that's going

[3:45:52] to lead to results. I haven't heard a

[3:45:54] lot of good questions.

[3:45:56] How are we going to fund it? There were

[3:45:59] a couple of defin definitely a couple of

[3:46:01] questions about funding streams that

[3:46:02] could point us in the right direction.

[3:46:05] But I've seen

[3:46:07] counselors sitting up here listening to

[3:46:10] people who are killing themselves to do

[3:46:12] this work who have sat there and rolled

[3:46:14] their eyes and snickered.

[3:46:19] It's disrespectful and distasteful.

[3:46:23] And it's not a good representation of

[3:46:25] your ward. Whoever it was, you know who

[3:46:27] it is.

[3:46:29] Anyway, I hope that this becomes a

[3:46:32] little bit more productive down the

[3:46:33] road. I hope that there's a lot more

[3:46:35] cooperation.

[3:46:37] Hope there's a lot more generating of of

[3:46:39] good ideas and collaboration. But from

[3:46:42] what I've seen tonight, I haven't seen

[3:46:44] it from from anyone.

[3:46:47] So, good luck.

[3:46:52] Further public comment.

[3:46:58] » Good evening. Can you hear me? Thank

[3:47:01] you. Um, my name is Fatuma Hussein. I

[3:47:03] actually live in Auburn, but I work in

[3:47:06] Lewon for the last

[3:47:09] 24 years. So, I spend more time in Lewon

[3:47:13] than in my city.

[3:47:15] Um, one thing that I want to say is

[3:47:18] first of all, um, the mass mass shooting

[3:47:21] funding that should be fixed. It really

[3:47:23] needs to be fixed and it needs to go to

[3:47:25] right people. So that's one thing. I am

[3:47:28] Somali. I'm a Somali descent. We too are

[3:47:31] victims of crime. We too are victims of

[3:47:34] gun violence. We have a lot of kids. Um,

[3:47:38] I know that's the elephant in the room,

[3:47:39] right? like we talk about this gun

[3:47:41] violence that is in circles, but it's

[3:47:43] actually about Somalis and I I just want

[3:47:46] to say it, you know, right there and

[3:47:47] then so that people are aware of what

[3:47:49] we're talking about. A lot of Somali

[3:47:51] people are good. We are taxpayers.

[3:47:55] We have made Lewon a thriving place. We

[3:47:58] have had a lot of issues along the s

[3:48:01] along the way. A lot of us are women and

[3:48:04] children. We do not have, you know, many

[3:48:07] head of household that are men. we don't

[3:48:09] have a lot of role models and therefore

[3:48:14] um you know accountability I think is

[3:48:16] one of the things that we need to do. I

[3:48:17] think if we have gun problems back in

[3:48:20] 2006 we predicted I predicted we have a

[3:48:24] lot of um you know um sorry drug

[3:48:28] problems

[3:48:30] and

[3:48:32] at the time what I said was if we don't

[3:48:35] do anything about drugs we will have a

[3:48:37] lot of gun problems and if we don't do

[3:48:40] anything about gun problems we will have

[3:48:41] bombs and that that I'm going to say it

[3:48:43] on the record because where we're headed

[3:48:45] is not good. It is not good that we have

[3:48:48] leaders who are not getting along. It is

[3:48:50] not good that we we're pointing at each

[3:48:53] other's fingers. We're not coming up

[3:48:55] with solutions. We know that the issue

[3:48:57] is big. We also know that we have

[3:49:01] children who are vulnerable. They don't

[3:49:04] have the services that they need and if

[3:49:06] they do it's limited. We have a lot of

[3:49:08] trauma. We come from war torn countries

[3:49:10] and that is also problematic. I am

[3:49:13] talking to you as a mother of eight

[3:49:14] children. and I have four boys and four

[3:49:15] girls. And I've worked tirelessly to

[3:49:18] ensure that my kids have the best school

[3:49:22] education and support at home. It was

[3:49:24] not easy, but it was really something

[3:49:26] that I had to do. A lot of Somali

[3:49:29] mothers are not the same. We don't speak

[3:49:31] English. We have a lot of issues. And

[3:49:33] therefore, what we need to do is come up

[3:49:36] with a solution that is communitydriven.

[3:49:39] I think there's got to be some

[3:49:40] leadership changes, too. Because if

[3:49:42] leaders are not getting along, they need

[3:49:44] to leave and we need to have the right

[3:49:46] people who are going to make changes.

[3:49:48] And so Lucen is still strong. It is

[3:49:50] always going to be strong. We need to

[3:49:52] work together. And mayor, I implore you

[3:49:55] for you to have a committee that can

[3:49:57] look at this that has no bipartisan. I

[3:50:00] know.

[3:50:00] >> That's Thank you. Thank you. Last

[3:50:06] >> last call for public comment.

[3:50:12] Wow.

[3:50:17] I'm just going to try to summarize some

[3:50:19] of the things I've heard tonight.

[3:50:20] >> You just have your name and where you

[3:50:21] live.

[3:50:22] >> Oh, I'm sorry. Jean Keane, Ward One.

[3:50:25] Um, just want to summarize some of the

[3:50:27] things. Unfortunately, we're at a point

[3:50:29] where it comes to money a little bit

[3:50:32] and you people are responsible for that.

[3:50:35] The state's responsible for it. That's

[3:50:37] where we're at.

[3:50:40] Secondly, and Jake will probably verify

[3:50:43] this as well, this meeting reminds me of

[3:50:47] parent student conferences at schools.

[3:50:50] I'm a 40-year educator,

[3:50:53] taught math, fizzed,

[3:50:55] athletic director, part-time assistant

[3:50:57] principal.

[3:50:59] And what we find when we have parent

[3:51:02] teacher conferences

[3:51:04] is that the parents

[3:51:06] that should be there don't come.

[3:51:11] They don't come.

[3:51:15] And I don't think the people that need

[3:51:16] to hear what was said here tonight are

[3:51:19] here tonight.

[3:51:22] The people that are here tonight are the

[3:51:25] same ones that go to the teacher

[3:51:26] conferences.

[3:51:30] So somehow

[3:51:32] as a council, you need to find a way to

[3:51:35] reach those people.

[3:51:40] other things like gun owner

[3:51:42] responsibility,

[3:51:43] legislation, and so forth. Those are all

[3:51:46] issues.

[3:51:49] The number one issue in my eyes

[3:51:53] is lack of parenting.

[3:51:57] When they come out of the womb, you got

[3:51:59] to start parenting.

[3:52:02] If you wait, it's too late.

[3:52:05] You got to manage social media. You got

[3:52:08] to check their rooms. It's your house,

[3:52:11] not theirs. I'd like to end with two

[3:52:14] stories that from my career that had an

[3:52:17] impact on me.

[3:52:20] At one of the schools I was at when a

[3:52:23] student

[3:52:25] uh disobeyed the drug and alcohol

[3:52:27] policy, it was a 365day

[3:52:30] penalty.

[3:52:32] We had the kid that did that. He came in

[3:52:34] with his parents. We discussed it. the

[3:52:36] parents. Okay,

[3:52:38] we agree with it. 6 months later,

[3:52:43] they came in.

[3:52:45] They had put their son through all kinds

[3:52:47] of uh rehabilitation stuff and so forth.

[3:52:53] We let the kid back in because they

[3:52:55] parented.

[3:52:56] Second story, we wanted to suspend a kid

[3:53:01] because he got in trouble. Parents went

[3:53:03] to bat for the kid and got him out of

[3:53:05] it.

[3:53:06] Six months later, he went to college,

[3:53:09] killed himself.

[3:53:12] Parent came back to me two weeks after

[3:53:14] that.

[3:53:15] >> Thank you.

[3:53:16] >> Parent came back after that and said he

[3:53:19] should have listened.

[3:53:20] >> That's time. Thank you.

[3:53:22] >> Thank you for all you do.

[3:53:24] >> Last last call for public comment.

[3:53:31] Andrew Jones, Ward 2. Uh, we heard a lot

[3:53:34] of comments tonight about uh,

[3:53:36] restorative justice. And I'm not saying

[3:53:39] I disagree with restorative justice. I

[3:53:41] just think it has its place for certain

[3:53:42] things. Uh, restorative justice would be

[3:53:44] great for, you know, like broken windows

[3:53:47] or somebody playing mailbox baseball. Uh

[3:53:50] but when we're talking about uh sailing

[3:53:52] rounds through downtown and potentially

[3:53:55] putting people's lives in danger, I

[3:53:57] think we're way past the point of

[3:53:58] restorative justice and we really need

[3:54:00] to uh involve the criminal criminal

[3:54:03] prosecution of these youths. Um another

[3:54:07] thing I had heard uh from the chief was

[3:54:10] that uh there was isn't a possibility of charging parents for the uh crimes

[3:54:15] committed for their use. And I I I would

[3:54:19] love to know more about that because I

[3:54:22] mean right here in Lewon, the stepfather

[3:54:25] of Jasper Smith is facing a manslaughter

[3:54:28] charge um because Jasper got a hold of

[3:54:31] his handgun and accidentally shot

[3:54:33] himself. Um he he's uh he's in peril of

[3:54:38] losing his freedom. Um and that's right

[3:54:41] here in Lewis to Maine. Uh across the

[3:54:43] nation, uh states are picking up uh the

[3:54:47] ability to uh hold parents accountable

[3:54:49] for when their children do things with

[3:54:51] firearms like shoot up schools. Um you

[3:54:55] know, there's a man in Georgia who is

[3:54:58] gone away for the rest of his life, uh

[3:55:01] charged with murder, even though it was

[3:55:02] his son who used a firearm to murder his

[3:55:04] classmates.

[3:55:06] >> [gasps]

[3:55:06] >> Um,

[3:55:08] another topic I just wanted to touch on

[3:55:10] is, um,

[3:55:13] there's a lot of talk about looking for

[3:55:14] taxpayer money to fund various

[3:55:16] nonprofits to do a lot of work. And I

[3:55:21] would just say that if this council were

[3:55:24] to be in the position to fund such

[3:55:27] things that they scrutinize them, I

[3:55:29] would hate to see a repeat of uh, the

[3:55:32] mass shooting money and how that was

[3:55:34] used. um a member of this council for a

[3:55:37] day was a recipient of that money. Uh he

[3:55:40] is he had a firearm stolen out of his

[3:55:43] vehicle, didn't get charged for that,

[3:55:44] and he's also under indictment for

[3:55:46] trafficking of firearms, which I think

[3:55:48] contributes to this problem in our city.

[3:55:51] Um lastly, another thing that the chief

[3:55:54] touched on um when asked was what is the

[3:55:57] commonality? uh why is why is Lewon such

[3:56:00] a uh a hot spot for this particular

[3:56:03] crime? And I would question the

[3:56:05] demographic of the individuals

[3:56:07] responsible. Granted, I'm not in the

[3:56:09] downtown. I don't see this stuff

[3:56:11] happening myself. You know, I live in

[3:56:13] the suburbs. We don't have this problem.

[3:56:15] Um but we saw the video on Jefferson

[3:56:18] Street. And while we do not know the

[3:56:20] background of that child, we do know

[3:56:22] what he looked like. and I would

[3:56:23] question if there's a commonality

[3:56:25] between him and the other people

[3:56:27] responsible. And uh that's 3 2 1. Have a

[3:56:32] nice night.

[3:56:34] >> Uh any further public comment?

[3:56:37] is now closed. Uh back to

[3:56:40] the council for any final thoughts if

[3:56:42] councilors have them. Uh we're starting

[3:56:45] on the other end this time. Councelor

[3:56:47] Martell, is there anything you'd like to

[3:56:49] say as we're wrapping up?

[3:56:51] >> Nope. Thank you, Mr. Mayor,

[3:56:54] >> councelor Chidum,

[3:56:56] >> merely. Thank you to all of you who

[3:56:58] presented, all of you who spoke, all of

[3:57:00] you who listened. Um, I think there were first steps taken tonight.

[3:57:05] Long way to go. Thank you very much.

[3:57:08] Councelor Noble,

[3:57:11] Councelor Roy,

[3:57:13] >> just want to say thank you to everybody

[3:57:15] and um yeah, thank you for coming out

[3:57:18] and listening and offering up your

[3:57:22] thoughts.

[3:57:24] >> Councelor Harman,

[3:57:25] >> same for me. Thank you to everyone who's

[3:57:27] here.

[3:57:28] >> Councelor Long Champs.

[3:57:30] >> Thank you, Mayor. Yes, thank you uh for

[3:57:32] coming out. Um we have heard a lot um

[3:57:36] about different resources for our youth.

[3:57:39] Um some solutions. We've heard that we

[3:57:42] need a lot of lots of money. But one

[3:57:44] thing that we really haven't talked

[3:57:46] about and I won't talk long about this,

[3:57:48] but what are we doing or what are what

[3:57:50] is our plan to protect the people that

[3:57:52] have nothing to do with this youth gun

[3:57:54] violence where the stray bullets are

[3:57:56] hitting their houses or their cars?

[3:57:58] That's why I called for the National

[3:58:00] Guard to come here, not to intimidate

[3:58:02] people, but to help people. We are 11

[3:58:05] officers down and there is maybe a

[3:58:09] handful of people that and cuz I scanned

[3:58:11] the room and I'm in downtown every

[3:58:14] single day, seven days a week, 12 hours

[3:58:17] a day. And there was maybe a handful of

[3:58:20] people in this room from downtown.

[3:58:24] I hear scared parents, grandmothers

[3:58:29] that will only run to the store quickly

[3:58:31] because they're afraid of a stray bullet

[3:58:33] hitting them. It is our

[3:58:36] responsibilityility

[3:58:37] to help. We are 11 officers down. By

[3:58:41] golly, we need some sort of help. And I

[3:58:44] will continue to say it and I will

[3:58:45] continue to show up. And I love Lewon

[3:58:48] and I love every single person in here.

[3:58:50] black, white, I don't care who you are

[3:58:52] or what you are. And most people,

[3:58:55] everybody that knows me know that that

[3:58:57] knows that that's true, but we have to

[3:59:00] do something. There are people that are

[3:59:02] living in fear every day in the downtown

[3:59:04] area because the reality is is you never

[3:59:08] know if you're going to the damn laundry

[3:59:10] mat, if you're going to get hit with a

[3:59:11] bullet. My mother won't even leave her

[3:59:13] house. She lives on the corner of Horton

[3:59:14] and Pine Street except for to go to a

[3:59:16] church function.

[3:59:25] Thank you, councelor Longs. Um,

[3:59:27] councelor Nene,

[3:59:30] >> thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd just like to

[3:59:31] say to all the folks that came out um

[3:59:33] tonight, thank you. Uh, everybody

[3:59:35] watching at home, uh, I hope you've

[3:59:38] learned some things. Everybody who works

[3:59:40] in these fields, thank you so very much

[3:59:42] for your time and coming to speak speak

[3:59:44] to us. And just to point out, the room

[3:59:48] was filled with the folks that show up

[3:59:51] at student uh parent parent student

[3:59:55] meetings. This this was in some levels a

[4:00:00] meeting for the suburbs. And so the

[4:00:01] question is how do we bring this message

[4:00:04] to the people who are actually impacted

[4:00:06] by the violence every day? Um and so th

[4:00:09] I think those places are where we have

[4:00:12] to have some of these conversations.

[4:00:15] Thank you.

[4:00:18] >> Uh I really appreciate everyone coming

[4:00:20] out. Thank you for uh thank you for

[4:00:22] speaking. Thank you for uh tuning in. Uh

[4:00:26] you know in this room uh many different

[4:00:28] viewpoints and philosophies are

[4:00:30] represented but I truly believe that uh

[4:00:34] all of us here are coming from a good

[4:00:36] place and we love Lewon. So I appreciate

[4:00:38] you turning out tonight. Thank you so

[4:00:39] much and a huge round of applause again

[4:00:42] for our presenters.

[4:00:48] Uh, may I have a a mo? Yeah, we are at

[4:00:50] an official council meeting. So, may I

[4:00:51] have a motion to adjurnn? Uh, councelor

[4:00:54] Martell, second by councelor Nene.

[4:00:56] Madame clerk, uh, you what?

[4:01:01] Okay,

[4:01:03] we're now adjourned. You all have a

[4:01:04] wonderful evening.

City of Lewiston City Council Special Meeting 6/30/26

Transcript