LEWISTON — “Watch and listen.”

That was FBI Agent Patrick Clancy’s advice to students attending a workshop Tuesday designed to give them real-world lessons on how police do their jobs.

 Lewiston and Portland police, detectives, Lewiston Police Chief Brian O’Malley, the FBI, and the U.S. attorney for Maine met at the Green Ladle with 43 high school and technical school students.

They met as part of a new statewide initiative launched in Lewiston by U.S. Attorney for Maine Halsey B. Frank to encourage trust between youths and law enforcement. 

In one breakout session, students watched a video simulations of how police should approach someone considered suspicious. In the first, a police officer asked a man outside a warehouse for identification. The man grew agitated, pulled out a gun and shot.

“How did it go?” Clancy asked.

Not good, students said. “He had his hands in back of him. The officer didn’t ask to see his hands,” one said.

In the second simulation, the officer demanded to see the man’s hands just as the man reached behind him. The officer pulled his gun. The man threw his hands up, dropping the gun. No shots were fired.

“What’s going to kill you in this job?” Clancy asked, then answered his question: “Hands. Hands are what’s going to kill you. Watch what they’re doing with their hands. Give them good verbal commands.”

The program is called TRUST, short for Teach Mutual Respect and Understanding Through Simulation.

“The objective is to improve understanding between law enforcement and young people by giving them role-playing of law enforcement officers in various situations, and to give law enforcement the opportunity to interact with young people” in teaching situations, Frank said.

The program was created in response to the nationwide rise in shootings by and of police officers. Too often people don’t understand law enforcement, “maybe in part because a lot of news tends to focus on negative events that’s not an entirely accurate picture,” Frank said. And the program allows law enforcement personnel to gain perspectives from the young, he said.

In another lesson, Lewiston Police Detective Corey Jacques talked about how police handle armed motorists during traffic stops. More motorists are packing, he said.

“One time I stopped a guy with a gun on his lap,” Corey said. When an armed motorist is pulled over, Corey tells them to leave the gun where it is, “don’t reach for it.” Routine traffic stops are a safety concern, Jacques said. “We don’t know if it’s grandma coming from church” or someone who could be dangerous.

In another group, students played out a domestic violence call.

Lewiston officer Charles Weaver coached two students on what, as officers, they should do: Separate the two, try to de-escalate the situation, then ask questions. In this exercise “Samantha” had locked herself in the bathroom after “Keith” had broken down the door of her home and destroyed her phone when she tried to call police. 

“As a police officer you’re not going to know who’s who,” Weaver said. “You’re going to have to sort that out.”

When students acted out the scene, “Keith” was agitated, yelling and uncooperative while “Samantha” hid in the bathroom.

Lisbon High School student Jordan Tracy and Oak Hill High School student Seth Dyer played the two officers. Tracy ended up arresting Keith because the man was violating a protection from abuse order by making contact with Samantha.

Afterward, Tracy said dealing with the situation “is not as easy as it looks.”

“It’s confusing to go into a scenario like this,” Dyer said. “Samantha was difficult and didn’t want to answer questions.”

O’Malley said he was pleased the program was brought to Lewiston. “We’re always looking for ways to interact with youth in our community.”

Lewiston High student Kacey Hopper said one lesson stuck out. When responding to a call, it can be scary. “You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Tuesday’s session was the inaugural program for TRUST, Frank said. “It is my hope we will bring it to many schools across the state and work with many police agencies in Maine.”