Practitioners of healing arts generally try to “do no harm” in the application of their craft. However, in its Jan. 5 editorial “Strong but Needed Words…,” the Bangor Daily News may have not taken the consequences of those actions into account.
In this part of the world many of us feel safe enough to go to sleep with doors unlocked. For too many, though, the evil lies within the home, perhaps lying beside them in bed. There are already too many families who have buried their sons, daughters, grandchildren or siblings because of domestic violence. Too often, someone whom they had known and loved killed the ones they knew and loved the most. It’s only natural for most of us to be appalled at the reality of domestic violence when we are confronted with it.
After a particularly unspeakable act, such as the murder of a family by someone who claimed to love them, there is predictably a public outrage. As the families of the victims struggle to grasp the reality of the news while simultaneously mourning and grieving, the rest of us are motivated to make sure nothing like this will ever happen again. In that moment, we need to change the world, because the one we’re now in doesn’t seem like the one we once knew.
Long ago, King Solomon noted that “Justice will only be achieved, when those who are not injured by crime, feel as indignant as those who are.” But righteous indignation should be based on the truth.
One of the dangers we face as we seek to right the wrong is that we often look for someone else to blame for our failure to protect each other from evil. Even well-intentioned attempts to improve a system run an equal risk to cause harm.
It seems to me that such was the case in the Jan. 5 BDN editorial “Strong but Needed Words ….” The writer supposes that a report by Brian Gagan and three other authors has uncovered the real reason that a family of three was murdered by the controlling, soon-to-be ex-spouse, Steven Lake.
In addition to misrepresentations of the applicable law, both the writer and Brian Gagan make it plain that they blame Lt. Robert Young and the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office for a “fumble over Steven Lake’s guns,” but they fail to recognize that law enforcement officers must operate under the current laws, not the ones we wish we had.
Unfounded and irresponsible remarks will do nothing to encourage victims of abuse to seek assistance, and in fact may prove to only undermine whatever options are seen as available to victims. The majority of domestic violence homicide victims do not now seek protective orders, and most bystanders to domestic abuse keep their knowledge of it happening to themselves.
Instead of inciting additional anxiety for victims, we should be promoting community involvement with law enforcement agencies, and we should educate our citizens on safe ways to help one another so that there will be fewer victims of domestic abuse and fewer victims of homicide.
Since 1997, Maine’s Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel has played an important role in creating needed changes to reduce homicides in Maine. Meeting monthly, the panel has reviewed hundreds of cases, providing biennial reports to the Legislature, including recommendations for strengthening existing laws and enforcement practices. It is a more thorough and accurate source than the one repeatedly quoted in the Jan. 5 editorial.
In its rush to judgment, Gagan’s report is full of inaccuracies and misstatements of “facts” and the BDN editorial seems to have collaborated to play loose and fast with the details in an obvious attempt to discredit Young for unknown reasons.
The editorial writer seems to agree with Gagan’s criticism of “the apparent unwillingness of the Maine State Police and the Attorney General’s staff to take pointed, definite, short-term and public action against the perpetrators of this massive oversight by the Piscataquis Sheriff’s Office and its leaders.”
It’s not unwillingness; perhaps it’s because they took the time to check the facts.
Arthur Jette is community relations coordinator of Womancare/Aegis Association in Dover-Foxcroft, which works to end domestic violence. He also serves as leader of the Maine Chapter of the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children.
So sad
Hindsight sucks at times. Steven Lake is the only one to blame and I am sure he is paying right now as he will for eternity. Thank you God.
We can improve the current system and we should while keeping in mind that domestic violence and child endangerment applies to men and women. I am sick of it.
There is a lot more we can do to reduce domestic violence in our State. One of the easy and obvious ones is to bring God back into our society. Once one becomes a believer in Jesus Christ they know that the harm they do to others will be judged by Him once we get to heaven and that final destination is for eternity. As long as man only fears what man can do to them we will continue to be a world of violence. Mans punishement is weak, Gods punishment is real and saved christians know that, and we fear it.
We can also make domestic violence crime much more punishable. Victimless crimes (none of which I condone) such as fishing without a license, hunting at night, smoking some pot etc. should not be issued stiffer penalties then domestic abuse. Too often we let these men and women walk.
Or, we could bring back public hangings. That would work too.
I have read the report in it’s entirety. I think it was well written and very well researched. It is clear to me and ALL the people I have discussed this report with, that Mr. Gagan and partners know what they are talking about and without a doubt did their research in writing this report. Do you really think that they would publish something with inaccurate Maine Laws and Statutes? Maybe you should review them yourself and see if maybe it’s you that is misinterpreting these laws or even better yet, reading into them only what you think they mean based on what suits your own personal views!!!!
You stated in your article that you feel that this is just “inciting additional anxiety for victims”. This report is clearly written to help victims of DV learn what the red flags are and also what kinds of things they should or should not do when dealing with someone with DVH tendencies. It also educates us on what signs to look for at the early stages on these unhealthy and dangerous relationships. In other words, this is written to STOP THIS PROBLEM not to get people in trouble! To educate people on what the signs are and what the steps are that they can take to reduce their risk of death as a result of DVH. The sad part to me is that all you take from this is that you feel they are pointing fingers. All I can say is, if the shoe fits and by the looks of things the shoe DOES fit and the errors that were made need to be called out so that they don’t happen again. So unless you are up for another tragedy of this magnitute then I suggest you stop “tattling” or “pointing fingers”, and maybe take a moment to do your research before you start bashing people for going out of their way to make a difference in the lives of people they don’t even know!
You say since 1997 the Domestic Violence Homocide Review Panel has played an important role in creating changes to end DVH in Maine! Seriously, how is that working for us? Not well so far. Just look at the statistics since 1997 and the large number of deaths as a result of DVH in our state. It’s ridiculous! Amy Lake did EVERYTHING right and everything that she could do to protect herself and her kids and they are dead anyway! The State of Maine, it’s legal system, the Piscataquis County Court system the Sherrif’s Department or whoever else is responsible for helping her totally dropped the ball and let her down and now it’s time for them to call a spade a spade and just admit it and move on so this crap doesn’t continue! What is more important really? Saving face or saving lives!
According to the self-appointed Gagan “report”, “His (Steven Lake’s) lifelong fascination with guns and access to 2 of his 20-plus gun collection that were not collected and secured by Law Enforcement (LE) between July 15, 2010 and June 13, 2011 granted Steven the means to execute his violent plan by executing his family and then himself”
The editorial quotes that “He (Gagan) says they (Lake’s guns) could and should have been easily captured and secured by the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Office as mandated by state law and the specific terms of the protection from abuse order signed by a Piscataquis County Judge.”
A simple fact check shows that the law he refers to applies to the defendant, at the serving of a protection from abuse order, and in the Lake case, the guns had already been previously taken at the request of Amy Lake herself, into the custody of another family member on June 15.
The Gagan report (Appendix A) erroneously states that the protection order was initiated on June 14, 2010. Again, a simple fact check (public records) would show that Amy Lake did not seek the protection order until July 21, more than one month after the guns had been removed from Steven Lake’s possession.
The facts are that the current law puts the duty, “to relinquish all firearms and specified dangerous weapons in the possession of the defendant”… (MRSA, Title 19A, Subsection 4006), on the defendant in the protection from abuse order; there were no specific additional instructions or warrants issued regarding the weapons, and it seems that Mr. Gagan and the BDN writer have collaborated to play loose and fast with the details in an obvious attempt to discredit the entire system Amy Lake was working with.
If this is about who to blame, blame Steven Lake!
Of course we blame Steven Lake. But he had a lot of help and assistance to get to that point.
I think it is very sad that Mr. Jette seems to think that nothing wrong was done by the cops when what he refers to as “simple fact checks” show that Steven’s murders were committed with a shotgun registered to him that was included as needing to be collected by the cops according to the court order. Who does he think should have ensured that Lake had none of his guns, the tooth fairy? Another fact check shows that the court order did result directly from the June 14, 2010 threat incident in Wellington. He seems to be defending friends while not doing anything to make sure that this never happens again. He should stop mincing his words and start taking all steps necessary to ensure that this mistake by the cops never happens ever again.
I would think that he would know that court orders are not left up to the defendant to enforce. They are enforced by the cops at the direction of the court. His comment about “or warrants issued regarding the weapons” is really funny, because it is the responsibility of the cops to seek those warrants (specifically allowed under Maine law) to ensure the safety of the in danger individual.
A public records (fact) check also shows that the sheriff’s department only collected 1 of Steven’s 21 guns, and that was the pistol in his truck on June 15, 2010. They missed many guns that were also their responsibility to make all necessary efforts to collect. But, they made no effort to do that. The “fact check” on that is that Steven Lake had 2 of them when he did the killings.
Yes, the big injustice here is the killings. The runner up in my mind is that Mr. Jette thinks that this mistake by the cops is quite okay and should be ignored by the rest of us at the expense of many other lives in the future.
People who don’t do their jobs are always defended by others who don’t do theirs.
As one poster said earlier this is “very sad” now on a second dimension.
……how is it that no one brings up the fact that a judge let Lake out on bail?…….Lake should have been in jail at that time.
You are absolutely right! Yet another problem!
Strange comments from someone apparentlycommitted to ending domestic violence. It we seem to me that the inaction by authorities (the exact opposite from a “race to judgement”) would insted be the prime reason for abused family members to seek help.
I do not deem the BDN editorial nor the report it was based on to be a “rush to judgement”.
We all know there was a major flaw in the system. Amy, Coty, and Monica are proof of that ! Changes need to happen. I don’t care who makes it happen as long as it does happen!