AUGUSTA – While a legislative committee pondered ways to curb Maine’s habitual offenders, a strike force of sheriff’s deputies on Thursday staked out homes and workplaces of Cumberland County’s worst offenders, hoping to catch them driving without licenses.
Sheriff Mark Dion outlined the enforcement effort for the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, saying it was envisioned weeks before a Scarborough woman’s highway death outraged many Mainers and brought the issue to the forefront.
In the July 29 accident on Interstate 95 in Hallowell, a trucker with a suspended license and dozens of convictions for driving offenses crashed into the victim’s car, crushing it beneath another vehicle.
Dion told the committee that trying to get habitual offenders off the roads through standard random enforcement is ineffective.
“We’re hunting jackrabbits blindfolded,” he said.
Dion acknowledged it was a time-consuming and laborious task identifying 167 habitual offenders living in Cumberland County, with the exception of Portland, who are habitual offenders. Deputies on Thursday went after the 12 “top habitual offenders” with the worst records during a stakeouts between 5 and 11 a.m.
No arrests were made, and three of those on the list were observed as passengers rather than drivers. The others were not spotted. Similar countywide operations will be conducted in the future, Dion said.
His presentation drew praise from lawmakers and state police Col. Craig Poulin, and led to a preliminary discussion of whether a similar program could be set up statewide.
“To me, this is what we ought to be doing,” said Rep. Richard Sykes, R-Harrison. Sykes also asked about the possibility of setting up a Web site listing the worst habitual offenders, similar to an existing state police sex-offender Web site, and for more information about sentences the courts have meted out for habitual offenders.
“That’s intriguing and I applaud you for that,” Poulin told Dion. But he and others noted that a number of technical questions remain about setting up a statewide system to identify repeat offenders. Poulin said the subject would come under review when a special working group also studying the issue meets again.
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