Maine’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative

In 2001, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative focused on bringing together federal, state and local agencies and community organizations to reduce gun violence and illegal gun possession.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine created a PSN Task Force (PSN Maine) with representatives from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, domestic violence coalitions, sportsmanship alliances, state agencies, and educational and business leaders.  PSN Maine combines an aggressive enforcement strategy, particularly in the area of violent crime, with an extensive community outreach campaign aimed at educating Maine citizens about federal gun laws and domestic violence.  The goal of PSN Maine is to hold those who commit violent crime accountable and prevent future gun crime by informing the public of the consequences of breaking the law.

On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN so that it is built on newly articulated core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results of our efforts.  And the Department expressly underscores that the fundamental goal of this work is to reduce violent crime in the places we call home, not to increase the number of arrests or prosecutions as if they were ends in themselves.

PSN Maine supports the Central Maine Violent Crime Task Force in Lewiston (formed in 1995) and the Eastern Maine Violent Crime Task Force in Bangor (formed in 1997 and reinvigorated in 2019) which include federal, state and local law enforcement representatives.  PSN Maine’s enforcement strategy has a special emphasis on domestic abusers who illegally possess guns.  Through a network of contacts in each of Maine’s district attorney offices and most state and local law enforcement agencies, the enforcement of gun violence and illegal gun possession is a coordinated, statewide effort.

PSN Maine also introduced a popular Gun Sellers Awareness Campaign aimed at educating Maine gun sellers on the risks and consequences involved in selling guns to individuals who may be prohibited from possessing them, instead of directly to a federally licensed gun dealer.  You may request a Gun Seller’s Safety Kit by contacting PSN Maine at (207) 771-3294 (Southern Maine) or (207) 262-4694 (Northern Maine) or usame.psn@usdoj.gov.  Finally, PSN Maine launched a media campaign consisting of radio and print ads aimed at domestic abusers.  PSN Maine also developed a series of public service announcements (PSAs) focused on bystanders of domestic violence.  These PSAs can be viewed by visiting the website of a PSN partner agency, the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence.

Summaries of Federal Domestic Violence Laws and Federal Firearms Laws