HOULTON, Maine — While crime on a statewide level dropped in all but two categories in 2012, the Shiretown saw a slight increase in criminal activities for the year.
“It appears that crime has increased over the past two years, but not dramatically,” Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin said.
In Houlton, there were three robberies in 2012 versus none in 2011 or 2010. In 2009, there was one reported robbery. Of the three robberies committed, one involved the use of a firearm. Two of the three robberies were cleared by arrests.
Maine Public Safety Commissioner John E. Morris said in a recent press release that nearly every crime category went down last year. The exceptions are robberies and domestic violence. Morris said the increase in robberies is solely attributable to last year’s 56 pharmacy robberies — a state record. Morris said without the pharmacy robberies, the robbery category would have shown a decrease. There were a total of 421 robberies in 2012 compared to 370 the year before — for a total increase of 13.8 percent in 2012. Robberies decreased in 2011 by 11.1 percent, but showed increases in 2010 and 2009.
“Drugs remain a key reason for much of the crime in Maine as addicts commit these robberies to feed their habits,” he said. “Prescription drug abuse is responsible for much of the state’s drug problem.”
While this may be a trend statewide, pharmacy robberies are not a problem in Houlton.
“None of Houlton’s robberies were pharmacy related,” Asselin said.
Domestic violence is an area that is seeing an increase at both the state and local level. Statewide, domestic violence assaults showed an increase of 4.5 percent (5,593 reported in 2012 vs. 5,353 reported in 2011). This mirrored the 4.6 percent increase that took place in 2011.
In 2012, there were 22 reported cases of domestic violence assault in Houlton. That figure is up from 13 reported cases in 2011 and 10 in 2010. In 2009, there were 18 cases. Of the 22 domestic violence assaults, 20 were cleared by arrests.
“It’s my hope that the increase in domestic assaults is because victims are more likely to report the crime because of greater response by law enforcement and the assistance available from many support groups around Maine to help victims,” Morris said.
General assaults rose slightly in Houlton with 70 cases reported in 2012, compared to 63 in 2011 and 55 in 2010. In 2009, there were 65 cases. Of the 70 reports in 2012, 59 resulted in arrests, while seven involved minors.
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.
At the state level, burglaries decreased in 2012 by 5.1 percent (7,429 cases reported in 2012 vs. 7,826 reported in 2011).
In Houlton, there were 28 burglaries reported for the second straight year. Of those 28 burglaries, one case was unfounded. In the 27 actual burglaries, nine involved forcible entry to a person’s home. Seventeen of those burglaries took place during the day.
The total amount of property stolen in burglaries was $2,192.
A robbery differs from burglary in that a robbery involves stealing from an individual, whereas a burglary involves stealing from a person’s home. Larceny thefts, such as pick-pocketing, shoplifting or stealing from an automobile, are more prevalent.
“Robbery generally involves some type of force or threatened use of a weapon/force to take something away from someone such as money or other property,” Asselin explained. “Burglary is when someone comes into your home or business without your consent to commit another crime.”
There were 146 larceny theft cases in 2012, up from 134 in 2011. Thefts under $50 were the most common form of larceny with 71 reported cases. Three vehicles were reported stolen in 2012. The total dollar amount of stolen items by larceny in Houlton was $93,016. Of that amount, police recovered $34,123.
At the state level, larceny thefts were virtually unchanged with 14 fewer cases reported in 2012 for a percentage decrease of 0.1 percent (24,812 reported in 2012 vs. 24,826 reported in 2011). Larceny thefts rose 1.4 percent in 2011.
There were four reported rape cases in Houlton in 2012 compared to just one in 2011. Of those four, two were cleared. Statewide, there were 368 rape cases reported to law enforcement in 2012 which were 23 fewer cases (5.9 percent decrease) than were reported in 2011.
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 35,074 crime index offenses were reported to police during 2012 compared to 35,615 during 2011 for a crime rate decrease of 1.5 percent.
The 35,074 crimes reported in 2012 represent a crime rate of 26.4 offenses per 1,000 people in Maine. That number compares to the national crime rate of 33.1 offenses per 1,000 population in 2011.
The total number of adults summoned or cited by police decreased in 2012 for the fourth year in a row. Adult arrests dropped 1.4 percent (45,661 in 2012 vs. 46,307 in 2011). Juveniles arrested or summoned increased by 0.6 in 2012 (5,489 in 2012 vs. 5,455 in 2011).
The value of property stolen during 2012 was $28,001,214 compared to $29,652,360 during 2011. Police recovered $7,164,405 in stolen property during 2012 for a recovery rate of 25.6 percent.
The crime rate for violent crime in Maine continues to be one offense per 1,000 population compared to the national average of four per 1,000 population.
“Crime in Maine” is the annual publication of reported crime statistics from UCR and is posted on the Department of Public Safety’s web page.
Five-Year (2008–12) Maine Crime Summaries
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008
Overall Crime -1.5% +2.8% +3.6% -1.8% +0.6%
Rural Crime -7.4% +4.2% +14.1% -7.0% +6.6%
Urban Crime -0.5% +3.2% +0.3% -0.5% -0.7%
Aggravated Assault -4.7% +10.9% +2.4% -8.7% +2.5%
Assault -0.2% +11.7% -3% -5.8% +2.7%
Robbery +13.8% -11.1% +4.3% +19.9% -4.9%
Burglary -5.1% +6.6% +8.6% +3.0% -2.4%
Auto Theft -7.8% +9% -3.4% -13.2% -6.9%
Larceny-Theft -0.1% +1.4% +2.4% -2.8% +2.2%
Arson -13.1% +6.1% +0.8% +29.3% -22.6%
Rape -5.9% +0.5% +3.9% +0.3% -5.1%
Domestic Violence +4.5% +4.6% -3.3% -0.5% -8%
Murder 26 28 24 26 31
Adult arrests -1.5% -3.2% -3.5% -0.9% -1.2%
Juv. arrests +0.6% -16.1% -4.6% -0.8% -3.5%
