AUBURN — Police Chief Jason Moen accepted a state accreditation on behalf of the Police Department on Monday, after briefing the City Council on the city’s policing practices.

Moen told city officials the accreditation is the latest step for a police department that is among “the most forward-thinking in the state,” and that Auburn either meets or exceeds many policing standards now being sought nationwide.

During an earlier discussion with the council, he asked Auburn residents not to “paint (police) with a broad brush,” and not to compare the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis to local practices.

“What happened in Minneapolis was a murder,” he said. “Please don’t paint us with the same brush as some of those horrible officers out there, because it’s just not happening here.”

Moen spent most of the workshop describing the department’s policies that already meet or exceed national guidelines.

He used President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on policing, former President Barack Obama’s “21st Century Policing” task force in 2014, and the recent “8 Can’t Wait” police reform movement as examples.

He said Auburn employs seven of the eight measures included in the 8 Can’t Wait movement, and repeated longtime Auburn policies that ban chokeholds and emphasize de-escalation.

“The last thing we want to do is put hands on somebody if we don’t have to,” he told the council.

State law requires that at least 20% of officers in each Maine law enforcement agency receive “mental health first aid” or “crisis intervention team” training. Auburn has roughly 50% of officers trained, Moen said.

In June, all sworn staff attended an eight-hour training session on de-escalation, which Moen said was not scheduled in response to nationwide protests, but had been planned for six months.

Maine Chiefs of Police Association President Jack Peck of Farmington, who presented the department with the accreditation Monday, said Auburn is among the first five agencies to achieve the status in Maine.

“This department is a model in excellence in law enforcement,” he said.

According to a council memo, the Maine Law Enforcement Accreditation Program features 162 standards “to ensure that an agency has addressed the most critical of law enforcement issues in both policy and operations.”

The department has also held an accreditation from the national Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies since 2007, which must show compliance with 484 standards.

Councilor Stephen Milks requested the workshop discussion with Moen, stating Monday that “given the issues going on nationwide and locally” he “wanted to talk about things the Police Department is already doing.”

Moen, mirroring more of the national tone on policing, said there are “certain calls” the police shouldn’t be responding to, such as certain mental health issues.

In the future, Moen said Auburn officials will have to consider body cameras for sworn personnel, adding that “nine times out of 10, the video validates the good job officers are doing.”

Across the river in Lewiston, the city has established a firm timeline for considering body cameras for police.

When discussing community policing, like Auburn’s PAL Center, City Councilor Leroy Walker said Auburn should have officers on a “walking beat” in certain areas in order to establish relationships.

Moen said officers are encouraged to talk and make personal contact with residents, but that with the high call volume in the city, “it can be tough.”

“We always have room for improvement, but we’re already doing these things,” he said.

WOOD SWORN-IN

Also on Monday, new Assistant City Manager Brian Wood was sworn in during his first day on the job in Auburn.

Wood, who relocated from Washington, D.C., where he worked in the mayor’s office and administrator’s office, said he’s excited to get to work.

Wood’s hiring completed a shift in city administration. Wood will serve under Phil Crowell, who took over for retiring City Manager Peter Crichton on July 1.

Crowell was named assistant city manager in August 2018, following his retirement as chief of the Auburn Police Department.

At the time, Crowell filled a $97,000-a-year vacancy created when Denise Clavette left the position in June for one in Saco less than a year after accepting the job in Auburn.

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