Lewiston Police Chief Carly Conley Warns Juvenile Gun Violence, Repeat Offenders and Auto Theft Are Pushing City’s Public Safety System to the Brink

LEWISTON, Maine – In a wide-ranging interview with The Maine Wire, Lewiston Police Chief Carly Conley painted a sobering picture of a city grappling with rising juvenile gun violence, repeat offenders, stolen vehicles, drug-related crime and growing strain on Maine’s juvenile justice system.

Conley said the recent rise in shootings involving juveniles is among the most alarming trends she has seen during her more than two decades with the Lewiston Police Department.

“We’re seeing an uptick in juvenile violence that is deeply concerning,” Conley said.

According to Conley, Lewiston has recorded 15 shootings so far this year.

Of those shootings, nine involved juveniles, meaning juveniles have been connected to a majority of the city’s shootings this year.

Conley also said police are tracking repeat juvenile involvement in multiple shootings. According to the chief, some juveniles have allegedly been connected to as many as five separate shootings this year, while others have been linked to three shootings or at least two separate shooting incidents, though the department is still compiling the final breakdown of those figures.

That data, Conley said, demonstrates that Lewiston is not simply dealing with isolated acts of violence or random incidents. Instead, police are increasingly seeing a smaller group of repeat offenders repeatedly surface in violent investigations involving firearms.

The violence has rattled neighborhoods throughout Lewiston, where residents have increasingly voiced concerns over gunfire, youth violence and public safety.

For Conley, one of the most frustrating realities is what happens after arrests are made.

“The juvenile system is very rehabilitative,” Conley said.

While she acknowledged the importance of rehabilitation, Conley said police are often seeing repeat violent offenders cycle back into the community before meaningful intervention occurs.

“There has to be some mechanism that prevents the same kids from repeatedly ending up involved in shootings and violent crime,” she said.

Conley said officers frequently investigate shootings, recover firearms, identify suspects and work long hours building cases, only to see some juveniles return to the streets in relatively short periods of time.

That revolving-door effect, she said, is creating frustration not only among police officers, but also among residents who increasingly feel the violence is becoming normalized.

The chief also raised concerns about juveniles being found incompetent or non-restorable within the court system, limiting the ability of prosecutors and judges to move cases forward or impose meaningful accountability.

“We need more resources. We need more support systems. We need better intervention,” Conley said.

According to Conley, many of the juveniles police encounter are dealing with broader issues involving trauma, unstable home environments, behavioral health problems, gang influences, drugs and lack of supervision.

The rise in juvenile gun violence has also sharpened attention on Lewiston’s New Mainer and Somali communities.

Conley said the department has spent years working to build trust within Lewiston’s immigrant communities, including New Mainer and Somali families, some of whom come from countries where law enforcement is viewed with fear or distrust.

That relationship-building effort, she said, has required patience, visibility and consistent engagement from officers throughout the city.

“Our officers do a tremendous job building relationships,” Conley said. “A lot of what they do is not just enforcement. It’s problem solving. It’s helping people connect with services. It’s working with families.”

Still, Conley acknowledged that recent violence has created difficult conversations throughout the community.

Police, she said, need stronger cooperation from parents, schools, faith leaders, community organizations and neighborhood leaders when young people begin becoming involved in violence or criminal activity.

“We want people to understand what’s happening,” Conley said. “We want to be transparent.”

The chief repeatedly emphasized that community policing remains central to Lewiston Police Department’s approach.

Rather than focusing solely on arrests or enforcement statistics, Conley said officers are encouraged to build long-term relationships with residents, students, business owners and families before situations escalate into violence.

That philosophy extends into schools as well.

Conley praised school resource officers for their ability to build trust with students and identify problems early before conflicts escalate into shootings or serious violence.

But she acknowledged that staffing shortages continue creating major challenges for departments across Maine.

Community policing takes manpower. So do shooting investigations, patrol operations, drug enforcement and responding to stolen vehicle cases.

Auto theft has become another growing concern for the department and Lewiston residents.

According to Conley, juveniles are frequently connected to stolen vehicles, and those thefts often overlap with firearms, narcotics and reckless driving incidents.

Police are increasingly seeing stolen vehicles used during other crimes or abandoned after dangerous pursuits and reckless driving incidents.

What begins as a property crime can quickly become a major public safety threat.

Conley said the rise in stolen vehicles has placed additional strain on officers already dealing with shootings, overdoses and drug activity.

At the same time, Lewiston continues battling broader narcotics issues that contribute to violence and instability in neighborhoods throughout the city.

Conley also highlighted the importance of federal partnerships and task force collaborations, particularly in investigations involving firearms, narcotics trafficking and repeat violent offenders.

Federal agencies provide additional resources, intelligence-sharing capabilities and training support that smaller municipal departments often lack on their own.

Those partnerships, she said, are increasingly necessary as criminal activity becomes more interconnected across communities.

Conley’s perspective is shaped by more than 20 years inside the Lewiston Police Department.

Conley joined the department in 2001 and worked in patrol, selective enforcement, domestic violence coordination, detective work, accreditation and community policing before becoming chief.

In 2017, she became the department’s first female supervisor. She later became Lewiston’s first female police chief.

Her career progression has given her experience not only on the streets, but also in policy development, officer training and departmental accountability standards.

But Conley made clear that even well-trained police departments cannot solve broader societal failures on their own.

The shootings, auto thefts and juvenile violence now confronting Lewiston touch nearly every major institution in the city, schools, courts, families, social services, elected officials, police and community organizations. Conley went out of her way to emphasis that the Lewiston Police Department has a great working relationship with the Lewiston Schools.

“There’s no one solution to this,” Conley said. “It requires everybody.”

Conley has also indicated she plans to attend the upcoming community conversation on gun violence scheduled for Wednesday, June 3, at 7:00 p.m. at Caverly Chapel, 777 Main Street in Lewiston.

Organizers are encouraging all Lewiston residents to attend the forum, which is expected to focus on shootings, youth violence, public safety concerns and possible community-based solutions.

For Conley, the issue now goes beyond statistics or arrest numbers.

The broader question facing Lewiston is whether the city, including residents, Mayor Carl Shelline, the city council, state officials, courts, schools, parents and community leaders, are prepared to confront juvenile violence with the same urgency police officers are seeing every day on the streets.

The June 3 community conversation may become one of the clearest early tests of whether Lewiston is prepared to confront the issue openly, honestly and collectively before another shooting forces the discussion yet again.

Editor note: the five shootings by repeat offenders is from 2024 to date.