Miscommunication between drivers and police officers sometimes leads to dangerous outcomes, but a new program is taking root in Maine to aiming to avoid such interactions.

Chief of Police Marc Hagan holds the blue envelopes available for pickup at the Topsham Police Department. Other police stations in Maine are adopting the program. Courtesy of the Down Syndrome Advocacy Project of Maine

The Blue Envelope Program provides blue envelopes to drivers on the autism spectrum, with Down syndrome, or other intellectual disabilities or high anxiety. Inside, drivers can store a driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance so they’re easy to access. If the driver is stopped by police, they can place the envelope on the dashboard or hand it to the officer. This prevents the driver from having to fumble around looking for each item, and the blue envelope serves as a signal to the officer that the driver could have an intellectual disability or high stress level.

Topsham Police Department is the latest agency in Maine to join the program.

Erica Koch, co-founder and co-chairperson of the Down Syndrome Advocacy Project of Maine, contacted Topsham Chief of Police Marc Hagan about the Blue Envelope Program and wanted to know if the Topsham Police Department was interested in distributing the blue envelopes at the police station. The first police station to adopt the Blue Envelope Program in Maine was the Cape Elizabeth Police Department back in September 2023, according to a press release by the town of Cape Elizabeth.

“I thought it was a really interesting concept and something that we needed here in Maine,” Koch said.

Topsham Police Department adopted the Blue Envelope Program in the last week of May, at no extra cost to taxpayers and with no heavy lifting for police, Hagan said.

“After talking to [Koch], it seemed like a no-brainer that it would be something good for law enforcement to be involved in,” Hagan said. “If we stop somebody or we come up on a crash, the driver hands us this blue envelope and it immediately provides us an awareness level to something we may be seeing that normally might give us some safety concerns. … If we understand why people are acting the way they are, it helps our own officers calm down a little bit.”

The Down Syndrome Advocacy Program of Maine is looking into spreading the Blue Envelope Program across the state. It has provided other special needs advocacy groups, such as the Autism Society of Maine, with blue envelopes to spread around in their regions.

The Down Syndrome Advocacy Program provides blue envelopes to police departments or any requests from individuals, Koch said. Down Syndrome Advocacy is looking into applying for grants and private donations to cover the costs of printing the envelopes, with $1,000 covering the cost of about 4,300 blue envelopes.

“I have reached out to as far south as Wells to as far north as Madawaska, so we are going statewide,” Koch said.

The program started in 2020 in Connecticut. It soon spread to other states like New Jersey, New York, California and now Maine. Other police departments that have adopted the Blue Envelope Program include Westbrook and South Portland. The blue envelopes are available in the Topsham Public Safety building lobby across from Town Hall.

“You don’t have to have Down syndrome in order to use [the blue envelopes]; we are making them available to anyone,” Koch said. “So whether you are autistic or you have anxiety, for example, the envelopes are going to be available to you.”

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Related Stories

Advertisement

The Class A Maine State Track and Field Championships were held on Saturday, June 1st at Thornton Academy.

Andre Clark of Marshwood High School set the State Record in the 100 Meter Dash with a time of 10.59 beating Aidan Walcott’s (Bonny Eagle) record of 10.80 set in 2021.

Arnaud Sioho of South Portland set 2 state records. 1st in the Long Jump he jumped 23-02.24 beating Frank Morang’s (Cheverus) record of 23-00.75 set in 2021. The in the Triple Jump he jumped 47-02.00 beating the record set by Scott Sawyer (South Portland) of 46-05 in 1991.

Here are the Girl’s Team Results

• 1. Scarborough – 101
• 2. Bangor – 86.50
• 3. Falmouth – 57
• 3. Portland – 57
• 5. Lewiston – 47
• 6. Brunswick – 46
• 7. Windham – 44.50
• 8. Mt. Ararat – 35.50
• 9. Cheverus – 32.50
• 10. Mt. Blue – 30
• 11. Brewer – 26
• 12. Hampden Academy – 24
• 13. Edward Little – 23
• 13. Deering – 23
• 15. Thornton Academy – 21
• 16. Massabesic – 16
• 16. Camden Hills – 16
• 18. Bonny Eagle – 13
• 19. Marshwood – 8
• 20. South Porland 7.509
• 21. Gorham – 7
• 22. Kennebunk 5.
• 23. Oxford Hills – 4
• 24. Skowhegan – 3
• 24. Noble – 3
• 26. Messalonskee – 1.50

To see all the individual Girl’s Results CLICK HERE

Here are the Boy’s Team Results

• 1. South Portland 79.50
• 2. Gorham – 79
• 3. Portland – 65
• 4. Lewiston – 60
• 5. Mt. Ararat – 58
• 6. Sanford – 53
• 7. Scarborough – 48
• 8. Marshwood – 44
• 9. Bonny Eagle – 32
• 10. Hampden Academy – 28
• 11. Kennebunk – 25
• 12. Falmouth – 22
• 13. Noble – 21
• 13. Brunswick – 21
• 13. Bangor – 21
• 13. Cheverus – 21
• 17. Skowhegan – 18
• 18. Windham – 11
• 19. Westbrook – 9
• 20. Deering – 8
• 21. Brewer – 6
• 22. Camden – 4
• 22. Thornton Academy – 4
• 24. Oxford Hills – 3
• 25. Edward Little – 0.50

As Mainers prepare to head to the polls for the June 11 state primary, The Maine Monitor is committed to shedding light on the election process, and the people and issues on the ballot. We are committed to providing accurate, nuanced and nonpartisan journalism.

Rather than reporting on the latest presidential polls or campaign stops — which will get plenty of coverage in the national press — we plan to focus on what’s happening here in Maine. 

Both of Maine’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and one of its U.S. Senate seats are on the ballot this year. All 151 state representative seats and 35 state senate seats are also on the ballot, as are the following county offices, depending on the county: judge of probate, register of probate, county treasurer, register of deeds, sheriff and county commissioner.

Given the spread of misinformation and questions about the voting process that has permeated the national conversation in recent years, we’ll devote much of our reporting to explaining the election process itself and matters of policy.

We want to ensure Mainers can say with confidence that they understand the process and have all the information they need to participate.

We’ll focus our reporting on Maine’s county races, which are often overlooked; we’ll sit with the municipal clerks who play a crucial role organizing elections; and we’ll break down ballot initiatives, which are too often confusing to voters. 

At the heart of our work is a desire to help Mainers participate in the electoral process and make informed decisions at the polls.

To start, we decided to sit with Secretary of State Shenna Bellows for a conversation about Maine’s electoral process, and the work her office does to ensure votes are counted accurately and information is stored securely. You can watch a recording of that conversation, or you can read the main takeaways.

As always, our nonprofit journalism is independent and nonpartisan: The Maine Monitor does not take a position on any political party or policy, nor does it endorse candidates. Our mission is to deliver journalism that informs Mainers about the issues impacting our state and inspires them to take action.

As the November general election approaches, we want to hear from you — let us know if you have questions by filling out this form. 

We’ll be populating our election hub with our original reporting, and our resource guide with information to ensure you are a prepared voter.

The Maine Monitor

The Maine Monitor is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. Our team of investigative journalists use data- and document-based reporting to produce stories that have an impact.