Maine has some of the lowest police misconduct rates in the nation, according to a study by the Cato Institute. There are still lawsuits and payouts over police wrongdoing in the state which cost taxpayers money.
Maine had 310 incidents per 100,000 officers reported in 2010, according to the
National Police Misconduct Reporting Project run by the Cato Institute. The national average is closer to 1,000 incidents per 100,000 officers.
Here are some large payouts for police misconduct in Maine.
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A 2011 settlement involving police misconduct reached three-quarters of a million dollars.
The Bangor Daily News reported Ellsworth city police officers injured a man during an arrest in 2006 and violated his rights after taking him to jail. The man was drunk at the time of his arrest, but his injuries left him without full use of his arm. The payout in that case was $725,000.
A couple from Bar Harbor received a $75,000 settlement after they were arrested for shooting video of a police officer.
The Portland Press Herald reported the man and woman were taken to jail after a police officer wrongly arrested them for publicly taking video of five police officers questioning a suspect in another case.
Some payouts in Maine are quite low compared to other states.
The Bangor Daily News reported on a 2015 payout of $10,000 after a lawsuit against a Portland police officer who was accused of using too much force during a 2012 arrest. In that case, a lawsuit the arrested man brought against an officer was dropped and the claimant had to agree to call his injuries an accident.
Some more recent cases of alleged misconduct in the state include claims of sexual abuse against children by Biddford
police officers, the Portland Press Herald reported.
In Bangor, police have asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit against officers who used a Taser on a man.
According to the Bangor Sun Journal, in that case, the attorney general ruled the use of the taser was justified. However, the man who was under the influence of drugs, died later at the hospital.
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In Maine, police misconduct cases end up before the Maine Criminal Justice Academy Board of Trustees. This group, which is comprised of representatives from law enforcement groups across the state is in charge of the training and certification of police throughout the state also review the complaints of citizens against police officers. The board decides whether to allow those charged with police misconduct to continue to serve.
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