AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine's overall crime rate in 2019 was down for the eighth time in as many years, although reports of rape rose significantly that year.
The Maine Department of Public Safety Monday released to the public its annual "Crime in Maine" report, which includes statistics from municipal, county, and state law enforcement.
According to the report, there were about 14 crimes per 1,000 people in the state in 2019, the most recent year for which statistics are available. That figure is down from 14.77 in 2018, and far fewer than the 25 per 1,000 people nationwide in 2018.
In a Nov. 4, 2020, letter to Gov. Janet Mills accompanying the report, Maine State Police Col. John Cote wrote, in part, "It is encouraging to note that crime in Maine has decreased for five consecutive years. The statistics continue to show that Maine is one of the safest places in the nation to live."
Property crimes — burglary, larceny, motor vehicle thefts, and arson — which account for more than 91 percent of all crimes in Maine, decreased about seven percent between 2018 and 2019.
However, violent crimes — murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault — were up 3.1 percent in 2019, including a 15 percent increase in the number of rapes, according to the report.
A request for comment from Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck was not returned on Monday.
The increase brings Maine's rate in line with the national average of 0.30.
Elizabeth Saxl-Ward, executive director of the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said in a release that the data only shows the number of crimes reported to the police. Saxl-Ward said a study by the Muskie School of Public Service indicates about 14,000 Mainers are the victims of sexual violence each year.
Seeing the number of reports increase, she said, "may in fact be good news" is "perhaps an indication that more victims were willing to make reports to the police last year."
Overall, the violent crime rate in Maine remains one offense per 1,000 people, versus the national average of four per 1,000 people.
While reports of aggravated assault were up 1.7 percent to 815 incidents, reports of robberies decreased by 15 percent, from 227 in 2018 to 193 in 2019.
Maine saw 22 murders in 2019, down from 23 the year before for a 4.3 percent decrease that brings Maine's rate to 0.02, versus the national rate of 0.05.
Of the 22 murders, 16 of the victims were known to their alleged assailants, nine of them domestic violence-related.
Two of the victims were strangers, one remains undetermined, and the relationships between the victim and assailant in three murders is unknown.
Sixty-four percent of the murders involved firearms.
Ten people have been arrested for alleged murders in 2019 — down 41.2 percent from the previous year — and about 95 percent were male.
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The reports of domestic violence assault — which accounts for more than a third of all assaults — were also largely unchanged, up 10 from 2018 to 2,689 offenses.
Arson was also up dramatically in 2019 in Maine, from 104 cases in 2018 to 145 cases in 2019, for an increase of more than 39 percent — and the amount of estimated property loss increased by nearly 62 percent, to almost $3.5 million.
The ratio of full-time, sworn law enforcement officers in Maine was 1.77 officers per 1,000 people -- far below the 2018 national average of 2.4 officers per 1,000 people.
Still, law enforcement agencies cleared nearly 40 percent of all crimes in 2019 -- up from 38 percent in 2018.