Sep 02, 2016 (Sep 02, 2016)

Michael Sauschuck, the Police Chief for the City of Portland, was our speaker on Friday. He began his law enforcement career as a patrol officer in 1997 and was appointed Chief of Police in 2012.

(Photo: Past President Kris Rosado, Police Chief Michael Sauschuck and member Joe Gray.)

Chief Sauschuck commented on what appears to be tense times for police departments throughout our country. He noted that the proliferation of stories through social media have been making what might be common or uncommon instances of good or bad policing, more public. In certain cases, some officers have likely been wrong, made mistakes, and a rush to judgment has occurred. This media swirl has created the opportunity to continue conversations both within the community and within the police force. He made the point that law enforcement needs to sit at the table and work together with society to make a difference. While the issues surrounding law enforcement have been around for thousands of years, law enforcement as a whole has had to change the ways it was going about business.

Chief Sauschuck went on to discuss the Department’s policies around peaceful demonstrations and gatherings with the main result that the police help the demonstrators get from point A to point B safely. He went on to provide various examples of when demonstrators either worked with the police department to provide for safe events, as opposed to when groups decided not to discuss the event in advance. Some of the recent demonstrations included those held by a local 17-year-old youth; a Black Live’s Matter group; and a demonstration held in Lincoln Park. On these lines, Chief Sauschuck says he does not have an "open door" policy, but rather a "no door" policy: stop in and chat.

One of the questions asked of Chief Sauschuck was about whether trouble makers are coming from large cities in other states and dealing drugs in Maine. He noted that a supply and demand is at play.... Maine is on the demand side and not the supply side of the drug equation. In Maine the drugs can be sold for 3 or 4 times the amount as back home, so they come here to make the deals. In order to stop this, he opines that we need to refocus on education, treatment, and enforcement: educate youth as early as possible, to let them know the dangers of drugs. He says treatment is limited in Maine, and we are not doing enough as a society to deal with substance abuse. Even though Maine is one of the top three safest states in the nation, violent crime went up in 2015.

Chief Sauschuck overviewed the Department’s procedures related to hiring, internal training approaches, and the peer-to-peer counseling by trained officers. When asked what type of person to hire as a police officer, he says the best human being possible, and give them training. He noted that during the interview process, all his new officers say they want to help the community.