A year after the worst mass shooting in Maine’s history, an Aroostook County police department is taking steps to prepare its officers for violent situations.
The Presque Isle Police Department will receive $55,000 from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide new ballistic vests and gear. Together, they will stop ammunition including high-powered rifle rounds, Police Chief Chris Hayes said.
Increasing drug-related crime, mental health issues and the reality of mass shootings have officers on high alert. County police have seen an exponential rise in mental health calls, many compounded by substance use. And after the Lewiston tragedy, departments can’t afford not to be prepared, Hayes said.
“Twenty years ago, I would never have had this conversation with you,” he said. “What we saw down in Lewiston, and we saw what he used — thank God, most of the officers that were down south were equipped.”
Ballistic protection used to be used by SWAT teams alone, but in Aroostook County, three hours away from the closest such unit in Bangor, officers can’t wait for that team to arrive, he said.
Presque Isle police would be the first in Aroostook County to have this level of protection as far as he knows, Hayes said.
Hayes requested the $55,000 from the Presque Isle City Council Wednesday. The funds would provide level III ballistic vests, helmets and special vests fitted with rifle plates, which would effectively provide all they’d need to go into situations that today can be like war zones, he said.
The money would pay for the equipment for the 17 officers on staff, as well as three open positions, he said.
The department’s current vests are level II, which will stop handgun shots but not those fired from rifles, he said. Level III will add additional rifle protection, and the armored rifle-plate vests can stop high-powered and automatic rifle rounds.
The National Institute of Justice rates body armor levels. Level II and IIA protection will stop ammunition from 9 mm, .357 Magnum and other handgun rounds. Level IIIA will stop bullets fired from longer-barrel handguns. Level III vests will also protect the wearer from rifle rounds.
All vests should be replaced after five years, according to the institute.
If an officer were shot while wearing the level III vest, they would survive, Hayes said, and could continue fighting the situation.
“I’m a little surprised to hear the other departments aren’t using them right now. Is this relatively new?” Council Chair Kevin Freeman asked.
The protection isn’t new and, in fact, some departments down state, including the Augusta area, have used equipment like this for years, Hayes said. For him, it was the next logical step to protect officers in an increasingly dangerous world of drugs and shootings.
Police officers around The County are dealing with more mental health calls than ever, and drugs add to the threat — not just from those suffering with substance use disorder, but from dealers, the chief said.
“We are dealing with some major players up here now in Presque Isle, some very serious people who will do anything in their power to protect their products,” he said. “We need to be ready for that, and we need to be ready for that lone shooter situation.”
The council voted unanimously to award the ARPA funds to the department.
The vests will come from DCF Investigative Services of Auburn, New Hampshire. Owner David Flight will come to Presque Isle and fit each officer for the equipment, Hayes said.
