Contributed photo/ Melissa Lizotte PRESQUE ISLE — Casey Faulkingham, prevention and training coordinator with the Hope and Justice Project in Presque Isle, said during a recent interview that the agency saw an increase of domestic violence victims who have sought help over the past year.
And although the number of staff members working at the agency also has increased, Faulkingham said that it still was not enough to assist all of the victims in need of support. At the same time, she said, public perception about domestic violence is changing, increasing the number of people who will get involved and report signs of domestic violence. Police also are better trained to deal with and investigate domestic violence, which also has helped agencies such as the Hope and Justice Project better assist victims.
Over the past few years, one of the ways that they have successfully been doing so has been through the Enhanced Police Intervention Collaboration, or EPIC program, which Faulkingham said is helping to reach more victims and convincing those that are ready to seek help.
As part of the program, when the police involved with EPIC get a domestic violence call, whether or not there is an arrest, the information is shared with the Hope and Justice Project, Faulkingham said. Within 48 hours, a criminal justice advocate calls and offers to meet with the victim or victims somewhere safe.
Last year, according to Faulkingham, the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office and the Presque Isle Police Department were involved in the program. She said that EPIC has expanded in the past year, with the Houlton Police Department agreeing to be a part of the follow-up program and the Maine State Police sending them police reports on domestic violence assaults.
Faulkingham said that having more police on board is “always a good thing” when serving such a large population base. Over the past year, the agency served about 1,200 individuals, an increase over the approximately 1,000 that it served in 2015. She also said that the number of crisis line calls had increased nearly 50 percent over the past year, and the agency recorded a 20-percent increase in the number of emergency shelter bed nights.
This is the second year of the program.
Faulkingham said that she does not yet have any statistics on the second year of the grant, but said that officials are happy that they are spreading word of the program to more law enforcement agencies.
Presque Isle Police Chief Matt Irwin said that his department has continued to view the partnership as a benefit both to his department and the community as a whole. Not only do police share information with the Hope and Justice Project, he said, they also get a broader snapshot of the problem in the community and the kind of help being offered, and they get to participate more in assisting victims.
Aroostook County Sheriff Darrell Crandall said that he felt that the department was “gaining ground” by working with agencies such as the Hope and Justice Project to prevent abuse and to educate the community.
He said that statistics for domestic violence for his agency differed slightly from those gathered by the Hope and Justice Project, saying that domestic violence reports to the department were down 14 percent from 2015, but the average number of arrests remained even.
“That means a larger number of the reported incidents were substantiated,” he said.
He also said that the department’s large coverage area had an impact on the statistics, estimating that deputies cover “less than 100” cases per year.
One ongoing struggle, said Crandall, is the battle to get some victims of domestic violence to report the crimes. The department is working to change that through its domestic-family violence detective, who Crandall said has played a significant role in investigating cases, assisting victims and the education process.
“He has not only helped bring batterers to justice, he has educated other law enforcement officers and individuals about domestic violence,” said Crandall.
Maine State Police Lt. Brian Harris said that his troopers have been following the basic tenets of the EPIC program for “years” before it was started by the Hope and Justice Project, along with doing their best to partake in programs that educate the public about domestic violence and decrease the problem in the area and statewide.
Faulkingham said that she is pleased with the support that law enforcement provides to the Hope and Justice Project and its programs.
“Ending the problem is going to take a great deal of hands,” she said.
