Crime Rate Uptick in Maine

Where do you think the majority of crimes take place? Most people would say that it’s in the big cities, where there are more likely to be low-income folk and drug dealers and cramped quarters and opportunities to hide in the crowd.

It might be a surprise then to realize that a story out of Augusta in August 2011 quoted John Morris, Maine’s public safety commissioner, as saying that there are more robberies, thefts, and burglaries taking place in rural Maine than ever before.
A quick lesson in crime definitions would be appropriate here:

1. robbery = taking someone’s property in his immediate presence
2. theft = taking the personal goods or property of another person
3. burglary = breaking into and entering the house or business of another with intent to steal

The crime statistics from 2010 came out recently, but they were no surprise to the LePage administration. Robberies increased 4.3 %, thefts increased 2.4% and burglaries increased 8.6%. It was already obvious to them that there had been an increase, and they were already taking steps to address the problems. Drug addicts have taken to committing more of their crimes in rural areas in order to get money to support their addictions. This means that more citizens suffered the loss of their hard-earned possessions as well as the trauma of fear that accompanies any of these three types of violation of one’s property rights.

Gov. Paul LePage has included an extra $700,000 to maintain staffing at the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, which recently lost federal grants. John Morris is planning to have a conference with members of public safety, education and health care officials to plan strategies for how to reduce drug-related criminal behavior. One of his concerns is the over-prescribing of prescription drugs. He mentioned that he personally was recently given enough for a month when he really only needed enough for a week. He hopes to start some conversations with doctors to determine what the best course might be.

Maine’s crime rate is still well below the average in the United States. But this increase indicates that stronger efforts are needed to keep it that way.