Crime in Maine (Stonington, Jackson: sex offenders, attorney, to buy)

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Petertherock

I wouldn't say there is no gangs here in Maine. ... .

A small group of wannabe gangsters in one city does not count.

L.A. has GANGS.

D.C. has GANGS.

NYC has GANGS.

Boston, Chicago, Hartford, ......

Not Maine.

[danpv]

I'm not taking issue with what you wrote, but I am shocked that there are places in Portland that require an armed escort. When did that become necessary?

Originally Posted by Petertherock

It doesn't matter where you go there is going to be crime. As I said in a previous post there are places in Portland I wouldn't go in during the day without an armed escort. As a member of a volunteer fire dept. that sometimes does mutual aid calls to Portland we have been warned that there are certain areas you do not want to enter without the police. If we go to the old port at night on an EMS call they send an engine company with us. This is of course for manpower help but it's also so there is someone that can stand outside with the apparatus with an ax and halligan bar in case someone tries to get into the ambulance.

We have been told when we have calls in the old port to just scoop the patient and go as quick as possible. But let me ask you what city doesn't have areas like that? The town I live in which borders Portland to the north is a quiet community and is the kind of place you can leave your windows and doors open all night without having to worry about anything.

The Church I go to doesn't even have a lock on the door. This doesn't mean we haven't had an occasional armed robbery at the local gas station and a few years ago we even had a bank robbery. There have been troubles with car break ins every once in a while but it's nothing like it is anywhere else.

I challenge anyone to find a safer area of the country to live.

[Petertherock]

Originally Posted by danpv

I'm not taking issue with what you wrote, but I am shocked that there are places in Portland that require an armed escort. When did that become necessary?

Since the influx of Somali's and welfare people from Massachusetts. They come up to Maine because we give everyone who doesn't want to work welfare.

[Petertherock]

This is an old post I found about Portland from 2006...

The city of portland is small and then there is south portland. The trouble is that the drug problem is real and it's such a small area it doesn't matter if you are on the west end or east end of portland, people can walk over. I looked at a rental once in west portland and I was asked for three months plus I was told I couldn't hang any pictures or curtains myself. This was for a tiny one bedroom and rent was $1000/month. For an area where it's not safe for a single woman to walk around in at night.

It's not all that.

When I am in Boston I can go anywhere at night as there are police stations everywhere and the streets are well lit and wide. In Portland there are many side streets that are not cleaned off in winter and are dark all the time. It's like being in a dark, cave with a lot of homeless.

Also a city that size really shouldn't have homeless people! The city really doesn't care about jobs, that might be a start to give people something to do other than stand on street corners in the middle of the night for no reason.

I'm not saying it's a good city but I don't want to pay to have anyone standing outside my window at night working at their night job.

People who love Portland Maine are usually born in Maine.

I'm just realistic about what I would pay. Unless the job is really good be sure to be careful about buying anything in Portland. You will have a hard time finding any single women who want to live there. I would rather live in Kittery, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Portsmouth if I had to in that area again.

[stephenw]

Originally Posted by Petertherock

This is an old post I found about Portland from 2006...

The city of portland is small and then there is south portland. The trouble is that the drug problem is real and it's such a small area it doesn't matter if you are on the west end or east end of portland, people can walk over. I looked at a rental once in west portland and I was asked for three months plus I was told I couldn't hang any pictures or curtains myself. This was for a tiny one bedroom and rent was $1000/month. For an area where it's not safe for a single woman to walk around in at night.

It's not all that.

When I am in Boston I can go anywhere at night as there are police stations everywhere and the streets are well lit and wide. In Portland there are many side streets that are not cleaned off in winter and are dark all the time. It's like being in a dark, cave with a lot of homeless.

Also a city that size really shouldn't have homeless people! The city really doesn't care about jobs, that might be a start to give people something to do other than stand on street corners in the middle of the night for no reason.

I'm not saying it's a good city but I don't want to pay to have anyone standing outside my window at night working at their night job.

People who love Portland Maine are usually born in Maine.

I'm just realistic about what I would pay. Unless the job is really good be sure to be careful about buying anything in Portland. You will have a hard time finding any single women who want to live there. I would rather live in Kittery, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Portsmouth if I had to in that area again.

Yeah, I recently read this looking up info on Portland. I highly doubt Portland is really that bad. Maybe for a town of 60,000-something people, sure, but really, I doubt it's like Atlanta or hell, even Asheville, NC.

I mean, there are areas in Atlanta where homeless people (usually people with disabilities) and crack heads and generally shady characters just gather 24-7. Usually when I drive through these parts (which is in the richer most expensive area, Midtown) it's in the afternoon. I wouldn't dare walk down there after 10 at night!

And on the news just about every night a bank is getting robbed or an armored car. When's the last time that happened in Portland? And the time before that?

I kind of hate Atlanta, if you can't tell. Lots of bad energies in this town.

[Petertherock]

Originally Posted by stephenw

Yeah, I recently read this looking up info on Portland. I highly doubt Portland is really that bad. Maybe for a town of 60,000-something people, sure, but really, I doubt it's like Atlanta or hell, even Asheville, NC.

I mean, there are areas in Atlanta where homeless people (usually people with disabilities) and crack heads and generally shady characters just gather 24-7. Usually when I drive through these parts (which is in the richer most expensive area, Midtown) it's in the afternoon. I wouldn't dare walk down there after 10 at night!

And on the news just about every night a bank is getting robbed or an armored car. When's the last time that happened in Portland? And the time before that?

I kind of hate Atlanta, if you can't tell. Lots of bad energies in this town.

Yeah...it definitely isn't as bad as Atlanta or any bigger city but I just don't want anyone thinking there is no crime here...but like I said, it's one of the most safest cities in the USA.

[stephenw]

Originally Posted by Petertherock

Yeah...it definitely isn't as bad as Atlanta or any bigger city but I just don't want anyone thinking there is no crime here...but like I said, it's one of the most safest cities in the USA.

True. I actually think places need crime though. Without crime, then there is lax law enforcement, which can then open a town up to worse crime. I just don't think the crime need to become bad enough to endanger a whole town.
Every city has a few bad streets...or areas.

[Let's tell the truth]

go to Maine Sex Offender Registry and check out how many are in your town PORTLAND, MAINE HAS 207!!!! CRAZY AND THESE PEOPLE ON THE WHOLE GET VERY LITTLE JAIL TIME 30 DAY"S maybe 60 DAY'S if thier unlucky!!!!!!

[dramamama6685]

Originally Posted by Let's tell the truth

go to Maine Sex Offender Registry and check out how many are in your town PORTLAND, MAINE HAS 207!!!! CRAZY AND THESE PEOPLE ON THE WHOLE GET VERY LITTLE JAIL TIME 30 DAY"S maybe 60 DAY'S if thier unlucky!!!!!!

So Maine is the only one with this problem?

I just went to the Ohio list and typed in my address. I have 13 within a 2.25 mile radius of my house in small town Ohio. 4 of which I apparently regularly pass on walks with my dog. Just be aware of your surroundings. I always carry my cell so that 911 will be close at hand.

As for crime in general... in California during the Manson killings, my husband lived nearby and was only a first grader. If you relly hate the crime and political corruption in Maine and think that it is so exclusive to Maine, why not just move?

[mollysmiles]

Not to mention the fact that if you ever read what qualifies one to be on that registry you would be shocked. Granted there are true offenders on it, but it's far from perfect. Changing your clothes in a rest area can land you on it, so can inadvertently walking in front of your window unclothed. It's a great tool, but doesn't separate the offenses well at all. AND, any police officer will tell you that. So, frankly, the "numbers" mean nothing at all, simply because the offenses aren't categorized well. A person who got called in for changing in front of his open window is counted as equally as a child molester. So once again, from the OP, we don't really have the entire truth.

LTTT, you really have to be careful with statistical data.