Turn right or turn left.

To start, I did not die, I was not injured, and I do not personally know anyone who was killed or injured in the tragic events of Oct. 25. It is unimaginable what the families and friends of those lost and injured need in moments like this, but my heart goes out to all of them. Their needs matter more than anything I am about to share and I applaud the many ongoing efforts to address their needs.

I, like many others, have begun to process and reflect on what I witnessed and experienced that night and asked the same questions many are asking themselves and of society.

While we hope and pray that such a tragedy never happens again in our community, I believe it imperative that we do all we can to prevent or minimize in the future.

The following is a focused perspective that I am willing to share publicly of my own experience, which also reflects the similar experiences and thoughts of many other Lewiston police officers.

I was at home when another detective called to tell me there is an active shooting at Just-In-Time. Within minutes, I made arrangements for my family’s needs and arrived on scene. While speeding to Just-In- Time, I immediately was met with a difficult decision: do I turn right to go to the station where everything I need equipment-wise to be safe and effective at my job is and then respond to the bowling alley, or do I go left where people and officers need immediate help?

I turned left, and what followed was a was a difficult, heartbreaking, and exhausting 48 hours and 49 minutes. The initial responders from the Lewiston Police Department exceeded expectations and our neighboring officers, including those from Auburn Police Department and the Androscoggin Sheriff’s Office, along with our dispatchers, firefighters and emergency medical professionals adapted to every variable and overcame.

Their efforts were exemplary.

The night of Oct. 25 presented many fellow officers and me with some very difficult decisions, many of which should now be examined.

The night of Oct. 25 was full of choices, and many of those choices could have been and should now be addressed.

The Lewiston Police Department is not equipped to provide take-home vehicles. I responded in my privately-owned vehicle; if I had a marked or unmarked police vehicle, I could have responded with:

• A rifle. Even if having a handgun, a high-powered rifle would have been needed to match the firepower of the killer had he been confronted.

• Body armor or my bulletproof vest. Protection helps keep you safe and able to continue to engage in a fight when you must fight.

• Police markings and identification. Arriving at a chaotic scene where your fellow officers do not know you are coming, and what would become hundreds of officers from neighboring cities, towns, counties, across the state and New England made this situation ripe for a miscommunication. The suspect(s) were not yet identified and their whereabouts were unknown. To many, I was or could have been viewed as an unknown person at a mass shooting with a gun. I could have been the suspect. I could have been shot. Communication is important, and in this case non-verbal communication like something that identifies its wearer as a police officer significantly reduces the likelihood of miscommunication.

• Portable radio. Effective communication is a must and not being able to hear what is going on is not ideal for the receiving and sharing of information and puts an officer at a serious disadvantage. Calling into dispatch to gain information is repetitive and straining on the limited number of dispatchers, who are also getting inundated with phone calls asking for help, updates and direction/guidance from many others.

• First aid supplies. With many injured, there will never be enough on-scene medical providers, equipment and ambulances. Having medical kits means, after determining there is not an active threat to eliminate, you can provide first aid to save lives.

• A computer connected to our systems. This would have made it easier to share information with more police agencies and the public faster, reduced radio traffic and allowed us in the field to start researching locations the shooter could have been found without further draining our busy dispatchers. Remember, at some point you need a computer to do research and prolonging that research to drive to the station is not efficient.

• A body camera/recorder and even pen and paper to interview, collect, preserve and share information.

These are some of the many things that would have made my and other officers’ response more efficient and effective during a rapidly evolving and dangerous situation.

Additionally, Lewiston officers not only had to deploy quickly to other locations, but often had to stop at the station to pick up other officers and/or badly-need equipment such as a drone, medical supplies, weapons, and body bunkers, etc.

Time matters.

It is often the difference between life and death.

While I welcome the independent commission established by Gov. Janet Mills to investigate the shootings that claimed 18 lives, it should not be lost or forgotten when talking about what could have or should have happened is that the patrol shift working for the Lewiston Police Department that night did everything right.

Which is why it must be mandated that, going forward, those truly most proximate — Lewiston’s first responders and medical personnel with firsthand experience — must have seats at the local table when discussing what our needs are and be heard as responses are being created and funded by city officials while they develop and implement the capital investment plan and next year’s budget.

While potentially easily overlooked in the grand scheme of things, I raise the issue of off-duty equipment and communication accessibility as a basic start. A fully equipped and most efficient response is what we all should want our first responders to have when time is of the essence, which is always.

We should never have to choose to go right or go left.

Nothing will replace those lost. We are all different now. What gives me hope is the community we have seen rally to say we will not forget.

We will persevere.

Joseph Philippon is a life-long resident of Lewiston and a detective with the Lewiston Police Department. He serves as an instructor of community policing and engagement, and stress management for the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, and has also taught across the country for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s class on Strategic, Tactical, and Resilient Interdiction of Violent Extremism. 

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