LEWISTON — City Administrator Bryan Kaenrath says Lewiston’s Community Engagement and Accountability initiative is off to a good start.

In June, the city held a meeting to discuss its youth gun violence problem. As of this month, officials say Lewiston has experienced 35 gun violence incidents since January, 22 of which involved children. There have been 24 juvenile arrests, and the police have seized 67 firearms.

One of the solutions, which Kaenrath spearheaded, is the Community Engagement and Accountability initiative. The program has two aspects: community policing and legislative change.

The program launched in August, and the city now has six weeks of data. The city gave the police department, which is understaffed by about 12 officers, $200,000 of overtime in August so officers can enter into the community. Kaenrath said officers have been doing foot and bike patrols and since the program’s inception, have made more than 900 community contacts. 

He said both the officers and residents are learning more by interacting in the community rather than through the window of a cruiser.

“This is a really great time, obviously, for residents to interact with officers in a positive manner,” Kaenrath said. “Just to talk about the neighborhood, talk about what’s going on, get to know each other.”

He added that it’s too early to tell whether the community policing has had any effect on the youth gun violence.

The second part of the Community Engagement and Accountability initiative is to encourage the state legislature to make changes to the juvenile justice system in Maine. Kaenrath doesn’t think the justice system provides enough treatment and support to children who have been arrested, and he wants to "stop the cycle” of repeat juvenile offenders. 

“When it comes to the court system and the juvenile justice system, they’re back out on the street in a matter of days or weeks,” Kaenrath said. “Back out into the same negative environment, without really proper treatment, without really anything new in their support structure to change the environment.”

Some of the changes that Lewiston is proposing to the state legislature, according to a proposal released by the city, include giving judges and corrections officers more of a hand in the decision to detain children who have been arrested, beginning mental health and substance use treatment as soon as a child gets to Long Creek Youth Development Center and returning the right to release to the district attorney.

Kaenrath said he wants the city, the police and community partners to work together to encourage these changes in the juvenile justice system.