To instill good values in its children, Maine must start young.

Without question, the time to start Maine young people on a positive track in life is during their earliest years. If we wait until our youngsters become teens to begin interventions, the results are more expensive and not as effective.

As law enforcement leaders, we have unfortunately heard the testimony of far too many young people when they are sentenced to terms of incarceration. Time and time again, we have heard a common theme from troubled youth: had there been some positive adult influence in their lives, their story might have been different.

We have also been in this field long enough to see second and third generations of families who cannot break the cycle of criminal behavior. We can go into a home to arrest an adult and look into the face of a 3- or 4-year-old in the room and know that, without intervention, in 10 to 12 years we might be arresting that youngster, too.

Think about this for a minute: in the next hour across America, law enforcement officers will arrest approximately 250 teens. This translates into more than 2 million teens per year. Here’s another shocking statistic: preventing one child from adopting a life of crime saves $1.7 million.

In 2006, there were 78 males and 16 females (94 total) in Maine committed to state juvenile facilities following adjudication because of the repeated and/or serious nature of the crimes they committed.

When we consider the human capital lost to our society, as well as the millions of dollars spent on juvenile detention and incarceration, it is more important than ever to begin investing wisely in our children, and we need to start before they are teens.

Maine’s law enforcement community knows one of the best investments Maine can make is in high-quality, early-educational programs, like Head Start, Early Head Start, pre-kindergarten and quality child care. We know from our own experience the impact these programs have on the most at-risk children. Our personal experiences are backed by extensive research.

A landmark study of the High/Scope Perry Preschool in Yipsilanti, Mich. – an early-education program similar to Head Start – found great success in curbing future crime. By the time at-risk kids kept out of the program turned 27, they were five times more likely to have become chronic lawbreakers than similar kids who participated in the program.

A study of Chicago’s government-funded Child-Parent Centers found that by the age of 18, at-risk kids not in the program were 70 percent more likely to have been arrested for a violent crime than kids from the same neighborhoods who attended.

A national survey found adults who attended Head Start as children were nearly 10 percent less likely to be arrested or charged with a crime than their siblings who did not attend Head Start.

Recently, we participated in the Governor’s Economic Summit on Early Childhood where we heard from national experts about what a critical time the first three years of life is for brain development and the key foundation-building required for youngsters to grow, learn and prosper.

We are pleased to join with statewide business leaders, educators, legislators and community leaders to help create the change in public policy needed to focus targeted resources to support Maine’s youngest children – our future work force and leaders.

Waiting until youngsters become teenagers is more often too late and the cost of remedial services is exponentially more expensive and less effective than working hard to get our children on the right track from the start.

Maine’s wisest investment in the future generation is where it has the greatest impact – in the first years of life.

Phillip J. Crowell Jr. is chief of police in Auburn; Richard Caton is chief of police in Farmington. Both are members of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids.