Crime in Maine (Portland, Lincoln: crime rate, homes, live)

[flycessna]

Burglary is entering/ or staying in a dwelling w/out permission, with the intent to commit a crime......So I could enter your home just with the intent to leave a threatening letter and it would be considered burglary. In Maine it is the same for a motorvehicle....and is called "burglary from a motor vehicle".

larceny/ or Theft in maine- there are many different classes of theft....and all generally deal with the unlawfull taking, defrauding, or posession of someone elses property. I am over a friends house and steal $20 off the counter.....Theft. I sneak in a friends house with out permission and take $20 off the counter...burglary.

Applying a clearance rate to "all" crime categories is very ambiguous. Violent felonies and burglaries would be a better gauge. Petty thefts can be misconstrued…if a town has a mall the numbers can be sky-high and not really reflective of the town overall or the police dept. There are many theft's from motor vehicle's that go un-prosecuted.

Police work very hard to close case loads. It is not uncommon when someone is arrested and charged for a particular crime that if there is a potential plea deal part of that deal often will include the perpetrator coming clean on all of their crimes. I've seen cases where one person who was caught for a burglary and we ended up closing like 30 other individual cases.

I have a hard time understanding what the rock is trying to do......It is what it is. Crime in Maine in overall really cannot compare to most other places out of state.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

The FBI says that Maine is the safest state. A friend of mine drove his pickup to Bangor to the Eastern Maine championship game last night. As he left the auditorium he had a sudden thought. He had left his brand new $600 chain saw and an older $400 chain saw in the back in plain sight along with gas cans, a jug of bar oil and some 2 cycle oil. It was an "Oh oh" moment. He was in the auditorium from 4:30 to about 9:30 PM. The saws and all his stuff were right where he left them. I would have expected no less.

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The Lee girls won the Eastern Maine Championship. The boys lost to Calais, but Calais has won 63 straight games. That's about 3 years or more.

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Sap's runnin in Maine. You saw it here first.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by flycessna

Burglary is entering/ or staying in a dwelling w/out permission, with the intent to commit a crime......So I could enter your home just with the intent to leave a threatening letter and it would be considered burglary. In Maine it is the same for a motorvehicle....and is called "burglary from a motor vehicle".

larceny/ or Theft in maine- there are many different classes of theft....and all generally deal with the unlawfull taking, defrauding, or posession of someone elses property. I am over a friends house and steal $20 off the counter.....Theft. I sneak in a friends house with out permission and take $20 off the counter...burglary.

Applying a clearance rate to "all" crime categories is very ambiguous. Violent felonies and burglaries would be a better gauge. Petty thefts can be misconstrued…if a town has a mall the numbers can be sky-high and not really reflective of the town overall or the police dept. There are many theft's from motor vehicle's that go un-prosecuted.

Police work very hard to close case loads. It is not uncommon when someone is arrested and charged for a particular crime that if there is a potential plea deal part of that deal often will include the perpetrator coming clean on all of their crimes. I've seen cases where one person who was caught for a burglary and we ended up closing like 30 other individual cases.

I have a hard time understanding what the rock is trying to do......It is what it is. Crime in Maine in overall really cannot compare to most other places out of state.

Great points, especially the mall aspect. I suspect here in Freeport shoplifting is much higher than Yarmouth due to all of the shops and LL Bean. I used to have a police scanner back before they went digital and was surprized at the number of shoplifting calls the police were getting in the height of the summer tourism onslaught.

[MaineMathTCHER]

I have trouble as well in understanding what Mr. Rock is trying to accomplish with these negative crime posts. Crime is everywhere, as it seems a part (sadly) of humans living together. But here in Maine, it is SIGNIFICANTLY less than other places and for that we have to be thankful. You can still walk you dogs safely, travel the highways at night and if you break down or end up stuck in the snow, God Forbid, you don't have to fear for your life. People will actually stop to help you. I thank God daily to live in a place with clean air and a LOW crime rate. Maine is not perfect there are many problems here that are significant and those issues would make for a lively discussion I believe.

[Cornerguy1]

Originally Posted by maine4.us

Maine rates as one of the safest states for just about every crime. Here are the statistics. 1 = worst state 50 = best state
Categories of Crimes
Murder 44
Rape 49
Robbery 45
Assault 47
Burgulary 35
Auto Theft 49

Maine averages in the 95 percentile of all the states. That means there are only 5 states higher than us, if we had 100 states, since we have only 50, there are only 2 states safer than Maine.

Crime is not a major issue in the quality of life in Maine - end of story.

Gee, I don't know if I'd agree that crime wasn't a major issue in quality of life in Maine -- looks like a very positive indicator to me.

It's great that PetertheRock has taken the time to post stats which back up the supposition that the urban centers of Maine are so secure in relation to other US cities.


That should be very reassuring to all those folks looking for a safe, friendly place to raise their families.

[Elcarim]

CG, that's the best post I've seen yet!

[ILUVMAINE]

Originally Posted by MaineMathTCHER

I have trouble as well in understanding what Mr. Rock is trying to accomplish with these negative crime posts. Crime is everywhere, as it seems a part (sadly) of humans living together. But here in Maine, it is SIGNIFICANTLY less than other places and for that we have to be thankful. You can still walk you dogs safely, travel the highways at night and if you break down or end up stuck in the snow, God Forbid, you don't have to fear for your life. People will actually stop to help you. I thank God daily to live in a place with clean air and a LOW crime rate. Maine is not perfect there are many problems here that are significant and those issues would make for a lively discussion I believe.

You truly are fotunante AND it's nice to hear from someone who recognizes their pleasure at their surroundings.

[Maineah]

Petertherock stated in the beginning that these statistics were from a course he is taking. I don't think he's engaging an some kind of scare tactics he's just sharing some interesting statistics that came up in his studies. I think it was nice of him to share his experiences. Just like if someone wanted to share with us some statistics on sub prime loans they learned about in their real estate class, it's all interesting stuff!

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Cornerguy1

Gee, I don't know if I'd agree that crime wasn't a major issue in quality of life in Maine -- looks like a very positive indicator to me.

It's great that PetertheRock has taken the time to post stats which back up the supposition that the urban centers of Maine are so secure in relation to other US cities.


That should be very reassuring to all those folks looking for a safe, friendly place to raise their families.

I agree

[forest beekeeper]

On the topic of 'Crime Clearance Rates'.

According to the FBI.gov site
"a reporting law enforcement agency clears, or solves, an offense by arrest only when all of the following conditions are met.

At least one person must be:
Arrested.
Charged with the commission of an offense.
Turned over to the court for prosecution."

Charges get filed, a perp arrested, and it is given to the courts.

I find it interesting that if a jury comes back with an innocent verdict, the crime is still considered 'cleared' by the Law Enforcement.

Or the grand jury turns it down saying there was not enough evidence.

Or if the DA negotiates a plea to a lessen crime, the original crime is considered 'cleared'.