Lewiston police are concerned that not all bus drivers know everything they need to know.
LEWISTON – Bud Caouette knows a thing or two about driving kids to school. He also knows a bit about suspicious people who lurk where children gather.
An Auburn police officer, Caouette has the perfect background for driving a school bus. But Lewiston police fear that not all bus drivers have the training they need to help protect children.
Next month, Lewiston Police Detective Daniel Stone will conduct a training session to teach bus drivers ways they can more effectively watch over the kids they transport.
Bus drivers are in a position to notice someone who is out of place, police say. A strange face near the bus stop, a waiting car that isn’t normally there. The training is meant to show bus drivers what type of information ought to be reported.
“You might see strangers hanging around or a strange vehicle,” said Caouette, who has been driving a bus for 21 years. “If a kid runs right up to a car, it’s probably someone they know. If he or she is hesitant, that should make the hairs rise on the back of your neck. Get a license plate number and call police.”
Lewiston police say their aim is to stop attacks on children before they happen. Veteran bus drivers learn to listen to children when they come forward with information.
Police Lt. James Robicheau, another Auburn cop who drove a bus for years, says being observant is second only to paying attention to the kids.
“They’ll come up and tell us if they’ve seen a strange person or a strange car,” Robicheau said. “The best source of information is the children themselves.”
The training in March will also familiarize bus drivers with the new State Sex Offender Registry, a list that provides information about convicted sex offenders who have been freed from jail or prison.
The registry provides names of sex offenders living in each city or town. It also provides photographs of the offenders as well as background information. On Thursday, 60 registered sex offenders were living in Lewiston, according to the online registry. Another 26 were living in Auburn.
Among them is a 22-year-old man who served six months in jail after he was convicted of luring one girl into his car and trying to lure other girls as they both walked to a Lewiston middle school. He is exactly the type of person school bus drivers should be on the lookout for, police say.
“You always want to be looking for different faces out there,” Robichaud said.
The meeting next month is scheduled to be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 9, at the Hudson Bus Facility on Bartlett Street.
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