Today we're bringing you a special investigation our newsroom has spent months working on in collaboration with Maine Focus, the investigative team at
the Bangor Daily News. It is the story of a violent arrest by the Maine State Police in rural York County that raises questions about the agency’s use of force policy and its process for reviewing complaints.
On March 16, 2024, a Maine State Police trooper repeatedly punched a handcuffed man in the face during a chaotic arrest in Limerick, according to video obtained by The Maine Monitor/Bangor Daily News. Video footage shows an incident that began calmly but spiraled out of control after troopers threw the man to the ground, later striking his bloodied face as he was restrained and yelling that he could not breathe. The man, Justin Savage of Limerick, 42, suffered a broken nose and severe bruising. He is now planning to sue the state police.
Our government accountability reporter Josh Keefe and the Maine Focus deputy investigative editor Callie Ferguson spent months poring over documents, speaking to Savage and his legal team, and putting questions to the state police. They also spoke to policing experts, who said striking a restrained person in the head is considered a serious use of force that is difficult to justify. The state police thought otherwise: they cleared the officer of any wrongdoing and promoted him. They also misrepresented what happened that night, our investigation found.
You can read the story of the arrest, and watch the footage yourself, at the links below. And stay tuned for the second piece of the investigation, publishing tomorrow, which zooms out to look at how this incident fits into the state police's broader record of clearing officers who have been the subject of use of force complaints — in the past decade, not once has the agency found a trooper's force to be excessive.
Let us know what you think.
— Stephanie
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