In the October edition of The Maine Monitor Radio Hour, Maine Monitor government accountability reporter Josh Keefe and Bangor Daily News deputy investigative editor Callie Ferguson take listeners behind the scenes of their recent investigation into a York County arrest.
In March 2024, a Maine State Police trooper pinned a handcuffed man to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the face while arresting him in rural York County. The incident was captured on cruiser cameras, providing a visual record that the Monitor/BDN investigation found conflicted with how responding officers described the event in their written reports.
The arrest of Justin Savage raises questions about the agency’s use-of-force policy and its process for reviewing complaints: Instead of disciplining the officer, the agency cleared him of any wrongdoing and promoted him. The determination fit into a broader perfect record in the state’s largest police force. The state police reviewed nearly three dozen complaints about use of force in the past decade. None were found to be excessive.
After this episode was recorded, Savage’s lawyer, Jeffrey Bennett, said at a press conference that the York County district attorney should convene a grand jury to criminally charge the troopers who assaulted Savage while arresting him at his home in Limerick.
“What happened to Justin was a criminal act,” Bennett said at the press conference. “This case needs to be reviewed by a grand jury, and indictments need to follow from that. If that doesn’t happen, then the criminal justice system in the state of Maine isn’t worth anything.”
He also called for an external oversight board to review all use-of-force incidents by the Maine State Police, saying the agency “can’t be trusted” to conduct its own reviews. He cited data published by The Monitor/BDN that showed the agency reviewed 776 use-of-force incidents between 2015 and 2024, and never ruled force to be excessive.
You can listen to the episode here. Tune in to listen live the first Thursday of every month at 4 p.m. on WERU 89.9 FM.
