Major crime, besides drugs, shows marked decrease

AUGUSTA, Maine - Crime in Maine decreased -14.9% during 2014, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety, the largest drop in the 40 years that Maine has tabulated detailed crime numbers.

Coupled with a decrease of -9.1% last year, crime has dropped -25% in Maine in the past two years.

Public Safety Commissioner John E. Morris said every crime category tabulated by the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) division went down in 2014. In 2013, similar decreases were recorded with the exception of aggravated assault.

"The past two years of decreasing crime numbers is encouraging, but also tempered with the growing drug abuse issue that all Maine law enforcement faces. As hopeful as the numbers are, drugs are still the driving force for most of the crime in Maine," Morris said.

The commissioner said drug arrests did go up during 2014, from 5,599 arrests in 2013 to 5,801 in 2014. He also said the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency continues to see significant abuse of prescription drugs and heroin, as well as an increase in out of state drug dealers.

Aggravated assaults, which involves serious injury or usually involves use or threatened use of a weapon, showed a decrease of -4.6% for 2014 (900 in 2014 vs 943 in 2013). Simple assaults decreased -6.5% for 2014 (10,044 in 2014 vs. 10,739 for 2013).

Robberies decreased by -9.3% in 2014 (304 robberies in 2014 compared to 335 in 2013.

Burglary decreased -22.4% in 2014 (5,009 in 2014 vs 6,453 in 2013). Larceny-thefts decreased -10.9% (20,501 incidents in 2014 vs 23,006 for 2013).

Motor vehicle thefts dropped -11.8% (796 stolen vehicles in 2014 vs. 902 in 2013).

There were 22 homicides investigated in 2014, three less than in 2013.

Domestic violence assaults showed a decrease of -7.7% (5,067 in 2014 vs. 5,487 in 2013).

Rape showed a slight decrease of -0.8%. There were 356 rape cases reported to law enforcement in 2014, 3 fewer cases than were reported in 2013 (356 in 2014 vs 359 in 2013).

The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence phone number is 866-834-HELP or www.mcedv.org and the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault's phone number is 800-871-7741 or www.mecasa.org . Both organizations have complete listings of local groups that offer assistance.

Arson decreased -29.3% during 2014, (99 incidents in 2014 vs 140 for 2013). The value of property damaged by arson fires decreased -64.7% for 2014 ($1,096,455 in 2014 vs $3,104,919 in 2013).

Crime in the rural areas showed an overall decrease of -16.7%, while crime in the cities and towns went down -11.9%.

In the rural areas, patrolled by State Police and sheriff's departments, crimes went down in every category except one additional case of robbery. (39 robberies for 2014 vs. 38 in 2013).

In the cities and towns, the only crime category to show an increase was rape with six additional cases reported in 2014 (280 rapes in 2014 vs 274 in 2013).

The Uniform Crime Reporting Division (UCR) at the Maine Department of Public Safety tabulates the crime numbers each year. The numbers are based on reported crimes from local, county and state law enforcement agencies. The UCR statistics show that 27,987 crime index offenses were reported to police during 2014 compared to 32,162 during 2013 for a crime rate decrease of -14.9%.

The 27,987 crimes reported in 2014 represent a crime rate of 21 offenses per 1000 people in Maine. That number compares to the national crime rate of 32 offenses per 1,000 population in 2013.

The total number of adults & juveniles summoned or cited by police decreased in 2014 for the sixth year in a row. Adult arrests dropped -2.4% in 2014 (43,957 arrests in 2014 vs 45,040 for 2013). Juveniles arrested or summoned decreased by -14.1% in 2014 (3,926 juveniles arrested/summonsed in 2014 vs 4,571 in 2013). Juvenile arrests have decreased in four of the past five years.

The value of property stolen during 2014 was $21,239,896 compared to $31,165,246 in 2013. Police recovered $5,191,038 in stolen property during 2014 for a recovery rate of 24.4%.