By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – As usual, the yearly police crime statistics are open for interpretation.

Across the state, almost every form of crime dropped, although there were more murders and an overall crime increase in rural areas. In 2004, Maine crime decreased for the third consecutive year, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Those statistics reflect trends in most Maine cities and towns. Crime continued to drop while some forms of violence rose slightly.

In Auburn, the crime rate was lower than in any of the five largest Maine cities. In 2004, 29.89 people out of every thousand were affected by a major crime. That’s a drop from 33.67 the year before.

In that city, there were fewer robberies, aggravated assaults, vehicle thefts and burglaries in 2004. There was one more domestic assault and one more case of arson than the year before. At the same time, police were solving more of the crimes that were reported.

“Crime is down and our clearance rate is up,” said police Capt. Kevin Mulherin.

In Lewiston, there was good news and bad news. The crime rate stayed about the same – 39.83 in 2004, 39.12 the year before. There were three murders last year compared with two in 2003. Aggravated assaults were up from 12 to 33 over the same period and five police officers were assaulted compared to two in 2003.

“We’re a little disappointed that we haven’t seen the same downward trend that we’ve seen in previous years,” said Lewiston Deputy Chief Michael Bussiere. “But we’re continuing to maintain a low crime rate.”

In Lewiston, domestic assaults, robberies, rape and arson all dropped over the one-year period. Arson was down dramatically, with only three reported in 2004 compared with 13 the year before. Last year in Lewiston 19 rapes were reported, down from 39 in 2003.

The number of home burglaries was up slightly in Lewiston in 2004, down slightly in Auburn.

The crime rate statistics from other Maine cities were not available on Thursday. Lewiston and Auburn consistently show lower crime numbers than Portland, Bangor and Augusta.

In Maine, there were 19 murders in 2004 compared to 17 the year before. That climb was the only significant increase in any of the crimes listed by the Uniform Crime Reporting Division.

The most dramatic drops were in numbers of rapes, assaults, vehicle theft and domestic violence. Of the 19 murders in 2004, police say 10 of them were related to domestic situations.

“We’ve made progress on domestic violence and sexual assault, but the work never ends,” Public Safety Commissioner Michael Cantera said.

The commissioner said although robbery was unchanged on a statewide basis in 2004, there was a 100 percent increase in rural areas. There were 24 robberies in rural towns compared with 12 in 2003.

Those numbers reflect another growing trend. In recent years, drug dealers and users have been moving to smaller towns. Most of the robberies committed in those areas were the work of desperate drug users who hold up credit unions, banks, stores and pharmacies to feed their addiction, Cantera said.

Rural areas, patrolled by state police and sheriff’s departments, also showed increases in rape, burglary, theft and arson. The same areas showed decreases in aggravated assaults and stolen vehicles.

The Uniform Crime Reporting Division at the Maine Department of Public Safety tabulates the crime numbers each year. The numbers are based on reported crime from local, county and state police departments. The crime index is comprised of murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, vehicle theft and arson.