BATH

The recent, alleged homicide of a Bowdoinham woman has prompted Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry to speak up about what he sees as an increase in violent acts perpetrated by young people.

On Wednesday, state police formally charged a teenage boy with the woman’s death. Merry had previously noted that many responsible for recent acts of violence were under the age of 24.

Writing on Facebook, Merry stated: “The research around Adverse Childhood Experiences is compelling, and while it’s unknown what the exact triggers in these violent events (are), we must question what the past experiences for these folks have been. If our future depends on our young people, we must figure out a way for them to grow in a nurturing, caring environment that values learning, patience, and respect.”

The point, Merry said in an interview, is to make the public aware of a national trend of violent acts committed by young people. He is also asking for conversations about what’s really causing the uptick in violence.

“Fortunately, we haven’t had someone (local) walk into a school or church and take multiple lives,” Merry said, “but can’t we think about that and discuss that, and try to get to the root causes before this occurs?”

Law enforcement can work with schools and try to be preventative, he said, “but isn’t there a bigger issue? Aren’t the root issues here more complex and don’t they deserve discussion?”

“Why aren’t we talking?” Merry said.

Merry also seems to connect the uptick in violence with cuts to social service and public health programs.

For example, he noted that school-based health clinics are being eliminated due to cost. Voter-mandated MaineCare expansion also isn’t taking place, Merry added.

“It is expensive, I know,” he said. “I can also tell you that, when we lock somebody up for many, many years because they committed a very serious crime, that gets expensive as well.”

There are no savings to be found by “squeezing the welfare ball” anymore, he said.

“What if we did a better job at working with people when they were younger?” he said. “Can we even imagine what the savings or the benefits would be, projected out 15, 20 years down the road?”

dmoore@timesrecord.com