MAINE, August 20 - Back to current news.

August 20, 2024

Governor Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey issued the following statements today in response to the release of the final report of the Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston:

"Our ability to heal -- as a people and as a state -- is predicated on the ability to know and understand, to the greatest extent possible, the facts and circumstances surrounding the tragedy in Lewiston. The release of the Independent Commission's final report marks another step forward on that long road to healing," said Governor Janet Mills. "I look forward to closely reviewing the final report over the coming week, and I will offer my views to the people of Maine after I have read and evaluated it. On behalf of the people of Maine, I thank the Commission and its staff for their dedicated, deliberate, thorough, and transparent work over these past many months, investing hundreds of hours to hear voluntary and compelled testimony, to review thousands of documents, and to meticulously uncover and assemble the available facts of this tragedy, as their charge required. As the people of Maine join me in reading this final report, let us remember and honor those who lost their lives, those who were injured, their families, and all those impacted by this horrific tragedy."

"I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the members of the Commission for their service to the State," said Attorney General Aaron Frey. "Their thorough, thoughtful, and transparent investigation is invaluable in helping Maine move forward from this tragedy. The Commission has clearly met its mission: to conduct a full investigation into the events of October 25 and determine the relevant facts. Now, every Maine official should review this investigation, consider the Commission's findings, and evaluate the role they have to protect against such tragedy from occurring in the future."

Following the tragedy in Lewiston, Governor Mills signed into law legislation she introduced, along with complimentary budget initiatives, that enhance public safety and strengthens Maine's mental health system. More specifically, the law and budget initiatives:

• Strengthen Maine's Extreme Risk Protection Order Law: The new law strengthens the existing statute to allow law enforcement to seek a protective custody warrant signed by a judge, in unusual circumstances, to take a person into protective custody, providing them with another tool to use at their discretion to take dangerous people into custody to remove their weapons.
• Extend National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to Advertised, Private Sales: The new law requires any advertised firearm sale to be checked against the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, as is required for commercial sales at federally licensed firearm dealers.
• Incentivize NICS Checks for Unadvertised, Private Sales: The new law strengthens Maine law to make it easier to prosecute anyone who sells a gun to someone not allowed to have one and toughens Maine law to make that type of illegal sale a felony, not just a misdemeanor. This approach will mean that transfers of firearms to family members or trusted friends, as is common in Maine, will remain unchanged, but it will incentivize checks against the NICS system for private, unadvertised sales to unknown individuals through the threat of increased risk of prosecution and prison time.
• Establish an Office of Violence Prevention at the Maine CDC: The budget established an Office of Violence Prevention at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to coordinate and promote efforts to reduce violence, including through the creation of a central hub to bring together data about violence-related injuries and deaths that is currently kept separate (such as in police reports, medical examiner files, and emergency department files) to inform public health and prevention measures to reduce suicides and homicides in Maine. This expands on the Governor's initial proposal in her bill to create an Injury and Violence Prevention Program at the Maine CDC.
• Build More Crisis Receiving Centers: The budget establishes three new crisis receiving centers, located in Lewiston, Penobscot County, and Aroostook County, and increases start-up funds for a hybrid center in Kennebec County. Building on the successful pilot in Portland, crisis receiving centers are a proven model of behavioral crisis intervention, allowing any person experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis to get immediate, appropriate, and no-cost care. The law also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan to create a statewide network of crisis receiving centers. This builds on the Governor's initial proposal in her bill to create a crisis receiving center in Lewiston and develop a similar plan for other parts of Maine.
• Support Mobile Crisis Teams: $5.3 million ($1.7 million in General Fund) to strengthen mobile crisis response through a comprehensive MaineCare (Medicaid) payment model. This model will support teams comprised of specially trained behavioral health responders including peers who de-escalate mental health and substance use crises, assess needs, and provide an appropriate level of care in the least restrictive setting. These teams, which are dispatched to the location of a person in crisis through the 988 -- Maine's 24/7 centralized crisis lifeline -- are a critical safety-net service that the Mills Administration has effectively worked with providers and national experts for the past two years to improve.
• Promote Safe Firearm Storage: $100,000 enhance the promotion of Maine's Safe Homes Program, which encourages Maine people to safely store firearms and highlights programs that make safe storage more affordable, like the tax exemption, passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, for devices specifically designed to secure firearms. The Safe Homes Program was created by the Legislature and Governor in 2022.
• Hire More State Troopers: $1.7 million to establish 8 State Police Trooper positions, 2 State Police Corporal positions, 1 State Police Detective positions, 4 State Police Sergeant positions and one State Police Major position to allow Maine State Police to support Resource Coordination Agreements with counties and municipalities and continue rural policing throughout the state, providing for 24/7 operations.
• Enhance Funding for Extreme Risk Protection Order Assessments: $422,400 to support the surge in mental health assessments under the extreme risk protection order law since the tragedy in Lewiston. Maine's Extreme Risk Protection Order law has been used a total of 392 times, including 311 times since the tragedy in Lewiston.
• Create the Maine Mass Violence Care Fund: $5 million in one-time funding to create the Maine Mass Violence Care Fund to provide coverage for physical and mental health out-of-pocket expenses that are connected to a mass violence event in Maine and are not covered by insurance. The fund will be invested by the Office of the State Treasurer with eligibility determined and proceeds distributed by the Maine Crime Victims Compensation Board within the Office of the Attorney General.
• Fund Victims' Services: $6 million in one-time funding to address a Federal funding shortfall from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). The State funding will support community-based domestic violence and sexual assault services, civil legal representation for victims, government-based victim witness advocates, and housing and supportive services for elder abuse victims.