Maine State Police Face Challenges with Rising Homicides
The Maine State Police are facing a significant challenge due to an unusual increase in homicides this year. The October mass shootings in Lewiston and a series of homicides last month have kept investigators busy.
Colonel William Ross, the head of the Maine State Police, expressed that the current situation is unprecedented. The volume of cases, especially after the events in Lewiston, is overwhelming for the police force.
In 2023, there have been 51 homicide cases in Maine, including the tragic Lewiston shootings that claimed the lives of 18 people. The numbers spiked again last month with a series of unrelated homicides and death investigations in just a few days.
Ross acknowledged that the limited staffing is a contributing factor, but another challenge is the fact that the state’s major crimes units have not expanded in over 30 years.
“We’ve had some success bringing people down from the northern Major Crimes Unit, it’s a plug and play, where they hit the ground running,” Ross explained. The goal is to ensure that the workload is distributed as evenly as possible.
To address these challenges, the Maine State Police will be receiving additional support this month. New funding from the state budget will allow the agency to expand its three Major Crimes Units and create positions for “State Police Investigators.”
“We’re looking outside the agency for seasoned investigators to come work in our homicide unit, our major crimes units and capitalize on their experiences,” Ross said. Three such positions are set to be sworn in soon, providing hope for better managing the workload.
While state police leadership hopes that the recent surge in violence does not become the new normal, they emphasize the importance of adapting to the increasing complexity of crimes to ensure no case falls through the cracks.
“We need to put that victim and that victim’s family, that case, that investigation into the best place that it can be,” Ross emphasized.
