Staff Writer

Biddeford Police responded to a type of call last week that is becoming increasingly common – a person expressing a desire to kill themselves. 

Barbara Stewart, 47, of 356 Main Street, placed a call to police March 24 at 7:18 p.m., stating she “wanted to kill herself and she had a gun,” Deputy Police Chief JoAnne Fisk said. Upon further questioning by public safety dispatchers, Stewart hung up the phone. Fisk said dispatchers attempted nearly half a dozen times to contact Stewart as officers responded to the address, she said. 

When police arrived, Stewart had exited her apartment and was on the sidewalk.

“Officers exited their cruisers and were met by her, brandishing a gun,” Fisk said, adding officers could not identify the type of weapon at the time. “They repeatedly asked her to drop the weapon and she advanced toward them in a threatening manner.”

After Stewart made several “very aggressive threats,” police fire shots, striking Stewart, who later was pronounced dead at Southern Maine Medical Center, Fisk said. 

“It appears Sgt. [Jeffery] Green was the one who fired,” Fisk said. “It’s tough, we all feel it.”

She declined to disclose the number of shots fired or if Green, an eight-year veteran of the Biddeford department, was the only person to discharge a weapon. Officers who responded with Green were Sgt. Phil Greenwood and Officer Ben Sholl. All three officers are on administrative leave, pending the outcome of an internal investigation by Biddeford police and an investigation by the attorney general’s office, as is standard with all police-involved shootings, Fisk said. The attorney general’s office would not comment further on the pending investigation. 

According to figures provided by the attorney general’s office, there have been 54 police-involved shootings since 1998, with a peak of nine recorded last year. The figures include those who were uninjured, injured or killed. 

Fisk said it has been more than 40 years since the last police shooting in Biddeford.

“I think we do an incredible job keeping everyone safe,” she said. “It’s tough, because Biddeford is like Portland, Lewiston, we are a service center. We have a hospital with psychiatric care. We have all the places where these people need to be.”

Saco Police Chief Brad Paul said because of a change in the way the state manages people with mental issues, there are more who have been deinstitutionalized in recent years.

“This is becoming more and more of an issue,” he said. “It’s frightening for police chiefs.” 

All police officers receive training through the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, including deadly force firearms training and dealing with the mentally ill or impaired, Paul said. 

“[Officers] all know situations can deteriorate and sometimes are driven by the person they are dealing with,” he said. 

Recent cuts in funding to private organizations that provide crisis counseling have Paul concerned. 

“Cutting funding to mental health, you don’t pay the price immediately, it may be down the road,” he said. “I don’t believe we will see a decrease [in calls for assistance].”

Paul said certain times of the year are more likely to see an increase in calls from suicidal people requesting help, including winter. In spite of an increasing number of calls – Biddeford dispatchers logged more than one call per day on average between Feb. 20 and March 20 – deaths from suicide remain consistent, according to Maine Medical Examiner Administrator Jim Ferland.

“There’s nothing dramatic there. There’s nothing to suggest it will be a ‘banner year,’” he said, citing statistics from 2005 to the present. 

Statewide statistics from 2005 marked 175 suicides, followed by 163 in 2006, 186 in 2007 and 177 in 2008. For the first three months of 2009, there have been 26 confirmed cases of suicide, Ferland said, adding there are pending cases without a determination of manner of death that may add to the number. 

“The numbers are so small to start with, it’s hard to gather statistics,” he said. 

There are a number of crisis centers in the state with staff trained to help people who may be considering suicide, as well as a toll-free phone number, said Crisis and Counseling Center Director of Crisis, Mobile and Triage Abby Lourie. 

The Augusta-based center is one of nine crisis centers manning the state operated suicide crisis phone line.

“We do a lot of home assessments, we want to meet people where they are,” she said, adding southern Maine services are offered by Sweetser and Counseling Services Inc. Calls to Counseling Services Inc. were not returned by press time. 

“We all have a contract to answer the phone and provide mobile triage workers,” Lourie said. “We perform risk assessment and can be a gateway to inpatient hospital services or crisis residential units, therapy or whatever is needed.”

Lourie said people concerned about friends should be proactive.

“If you’re concerned about a friend, it’s important to address it directly, don’t be afraid to ask,” she said. “It’s always better to ask and take action.”

Lourie said “red flags” to look for include giving belongings away, talking about suicide, purchasing weapons, hording medications, withdrawing from people, taking care of unfinished business and making insurance or will changes. 

“A lot of times there are verbal clues,” she said. “If a family sees red flags ahead of time, act before it gets to the point of a weapon in their hand.”

Lourie said if a suicidal person does have a weapon, it is best to call police. 

Basic law enforcement training at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy takes place in classrooms and simulated situations, said Assistant Director Eric Parker. He said all cadets study statutes and laws regarding deadly force before moving on to scenario training using a 10-foot by 10-foot screen and an interactive training weapon. Parker said though there are non-lethal means that may be used to incapacitate a threatening individual, each police department decides what officers will carry in addition to a gun.

“Those are individual department stances,” Parker said. 

Fisk said Biddeford officers do not carry Tasers, which deliver an electric shock to incapacitate. 

The last step of cadet training uses a weapon that shoots a soap-filled pellet similar to a paintball, Parker said. 

“It becomes extremely real, extremely fast,” he said.