PORTLAND (AP) – Nearly 5 percent of Mainers were victims of violent crime in 2005 and only about half of those reported the attacks to local police, according to a telephone survey.
The first Maine Crime Victimization Survey, conducted last fall by the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service, looked at the prevalence of crime in Maine from the standpoint of the public, rather than from police statistics that include only reported crimes.
“This survey complements the Uniform Crime Reports we get on an annual basis,” said Mark Rubin, research associate with the school’s Institute for Public Sector Innovation. “It includes identity theft, stalking and threats of violence, so it’s a little broader array of issues we’re looking at through the survey.”
About 15 percent of the 803 Maine residents surveyed reported being victims of thefts, burglary or other property crime; almost 5 percent were victims of violent crime and 3 percent reported being victims of domestic violence.
Denise Lord, associate commissioner of the Department of Corrections, said the relatively high percentage of crime victims who do not report the incident to police is in line with national statistics.
Lord’s department co-sponsored the report, which she said begins to develop benchmark measures for certain types of crime in Maine.
“That’s why you’ll see an emphasis on domestic violence, stalking, identity theft – those are crimes of increasing importance to the people of Maine,” she said. “Those are things that are important for policy makers to have when making decisions on staffing changes or program investments.”
The survey found that 95 percent of those surveyed feel safe in their community, and almost 85 percent say they are never or almost never afraid of becoming a victim. More than 40 percent, however, feel that crime has increased in their community in the past three years.
The survey findings largely reinforce crime statistics that show Maine has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.