LEWISTON — Sometimes, you’ve just got to remind people. You’ve got to show them the charts and all the numbers to get your point across.

Lewiston just isn’t the crime-ravaged hellhole it once was.

“Don’t ever use the term ‘Dirty Lew’ in front of me,” police Chief Michael Bussiere said. “I’ll turn and walk away.”

You can hardly blame him. Crime in Lewiston has fallen steadily for many years straight. Compared with other cities and towns, it’s downright sedate. In fact, in 2013, when crime rates across Maine were assessed, Lewiston wasn’t in the top five. It wasn’t in the top 10. It was barely in the top 20.

On the list of highest crime rates per capita, Lewiston fell in at No. 19. So much for the stereotype.

“The perception in Lewiston is far worse than the reality,” Community Resource Officer Joe Philippon said. “And it’s been that way for a long time.”

He was preaching to the choir as it turns out. At a community meeting at The Root Cellar on Birch Street on Wednesday, although three dozen people turned out, none of them appeared to have a beef with the police. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“You guys have been phenomenal,” one man said.

“Fantastic,” another said.

When it was Bridget Cailler’s turn to speak, she was already angry, so what came out of her mouth was a little surprising.

“The police,” Cailler said, “totally rock.”

So, who is she mad at, exactly?

A hairstylist in Lewiston, Cailler has been the victim of so many thefts and burglaries in recent years, she’s lost count. Every time it happens, police track down and arrest the culprit only to have the courts turn them loose again.

“If you’re not going to get backed up by the judicial system,” Cailler fumed to the officers, “why bother? This just continues and continues.”

It was a common complaint and complaints are what the meeting was all about. Since last fall, police have been conducting a survey of city residents to find out what their concerns are. 

With over 400 surveys turned in, police now have a better idea of what people like and dislike about life in the city. The Wednesday night meeting was a chance to hear even more.

One man, who recently bought buildings in Lewiston, said he was completely happy with police here and with initiatives like Operation Hot Spot. Yet, this fellow was a bit riled, as well.

So, who was this one mad at?

“The trouble,” the South Portland man fumed, “is the landlords.”

There was plenty of agreement to that statement, as well. The trouble, several people offered, is that local landlords will rent buildings to anyone who can make the monthly payments. The result is heavy drug use, prostitution and tenants who trash their apartments almost immediately after moving into them.

“There’s stuff happening here,” the South Portland man said, “that isn’t happening in Haiti.”

And with that, a whole new exchange of ideas began.

Police have been holding community meetings since 2012 when, in response to a series of downtown gun incidents, they launched Operation Hot Spot. On hand Wednesday night were Bussiere and his deputy chief, Brian O’Malley, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Supervisor Matt Cashman, an agent from the Central Maine Violent Crime Task Force, a prosecutor or two, police detectives and several officers who work downtown beats.

By and large, the people who attend the meetings tend to appreciate the effort, whether they have a gripe to share or not.

“I don’t live in the neighborhood, but I work here,” said Moe Landry, who has operated a barbershop on Blake Street for more than five decades. “It’s a big part of my life. Everybody has a gripe, it seems like, but they don’t always get involved. I’d like to see a full house down here.”

It wasn’t full, but it was nearly so. While the people aired their grievances and police explained their policies, dozens of children could be heard playing just down the hill, in a park that had been dedicated only minutes earlier.

It didn’t seem very much like the embattled Lewiston of lore.

“People have got to stop stereotyping the entire city,” Chief Bussiere said. “This is, overall, a very safe community.”

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