Police seeing more guns in routine stops

AUGUSTA — Law enforcement officers across the state are finding more guns during routine traffic stops, a fact all find disturbing, but a reality with which they must deal.

“Five years ago one of our officers could go up to a car with the good old boy attitude,” said Sgt. Steve Libbey of the York County Sheriff’s Department, “but no more. Our people are all wearing bulletproof vests.”

Several law enforcement officers report a significant increase over the past five years in the number of instances where a weapon is observed during routine traffic stops.

“I have talked with my troop commanders and we are seeing a slight increase statewide,” said Col. Andrew Demers, chief of the Maine State Police. “But, especially, in the southern part, on the turnpike, I have been informed on many occasions troopers have found a handgun either secreted on the person or in the vehicle.”

Demers said that in northern Maine it is not unusual for troopers to observe one or more firearms present on a window rack in a truck.

“There are a lot of sporting people up there, and year-round you will see rifles or shotguns on gun racks,” he said. “They are perfectly legal and these people are law abiding. There is no problem with those.”

Of concern to police is the routine traffic stop where there is no clear indication of a firearm until the officer is next to the vehicle. Many mention the shootings that occurred in Pittsfield and Bar Harbor earlier this year as a reminder that law enforcement officers have to be vigilant, even when stopping a driver for a malfunctioning tail light.

“That’s why training and tactics are so important to our people,” Demers said. “We have been upgrading our training over the last four or five years and I will admit that may be part of the reason” officers are finding more weapons. “We may be finding weapons that were there in the past, but we didn’t see them.”

Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood said his officers have seen an increase in the number of people carrying weapons, both sport weapons and handguns. He said he believes much of the increase is due to increased drug trafficking in the Portland area.

“We are seeing people arrested for drug trafficking in automobiles carrying guns, having those guns inside of the automobile,” he said.

Officers on the streets of Maine’s largest city say they are seeing many of the same problems that afflict much larger cities. Donald Mowatt has patrolled Portland’s streets for 17 years, and he said the major change can be traced to drugs.

“Drugs are real, real big now,” he said. “People who deal drugs or transport drugs, their first line of defense is that gun. The only thing in their mind is to not be stopped with drugs, and they don’t care who gets in the way.”

According to the state’s Uniform Crime Report for 1989, there were 356 assaults on the less than 2,000 law enforcement officers in the state, an increase of 19.5 percent.