BANGOR, Maine -- Illegal drugs, alcohol, the economy and the lack of parental discipline are factors in most of Maine's crime problems, according to the 2011 Maine Crime Victimization Survey report released this month by the Maine Statistical Analysis Center in Portland.
"Most responders rated illegal drugs and the lack of parental discipline as most responsible for crime in Maine," Mark Rubin, research associate and principal investigator of the crime victim survey, said this week to a group of concerned citizens at the Miller Square senior housing complex on Harlow Street.
More than 63 percent of survey responders said illegal drugs contributed to crimes, followed closely by lack of parental discipline (53.7 percent), the economy (50.3 percent) and alcohol (39 percent).
The survey shows there is a significant increase in identity theft and a small increase in stalking, but those "reporting violent crimes to police decreased significantly," he said.
The economy also is playing a big role in who is reporting crimes, said Rubin. Households that make less than $20,000 a year are 15 percent more likely to be victimized by crime than they were in 2006, he said.
"Their overall victim rate was significantly higher," 45.6 percent, Rubin said.
About 36 percent of all of those surveyed this year said they had been the victim of a crime, which also is an increase from the 32.9 percent reported in 2006.
Of all the crimes reported, "the most significant difference was with identity theft," which increased from 10.4 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2011, Rubin said.
The good news is that most responders, 93.8 percent, said they felt safe in their communities and 72.5 percent said they felt their local law enforcement agencies performed well or very well.
Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross; Jane Carpenter, complaint examiner with the Maine Attorney General's Office; Tamar Mathieu, executive director of Rape Response Services; and Amanda Cost, a Spruce Run prevention coordinator, were on hand to give their perspective of the data results.
Carmen Dorsey, director of the Maine Statistical Analysis Center, which is located at the University of Southern Maine's Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service, also was at the gathering.
Carpenter said identity theft, "a crime that takes place in the shadows," has increased nationwide and the number of child victims is growing by leaps and bounds.
"One in 10 have had their identity stolen," she said. "The youngest was 5 months old."
People who steal identities are using the data to buy homes, vehicles and other large items and in the process are ruining the credit ratings of their victims.
"They can steal from you without breaking into your home," said Ross, a 33-year law enforcement veteran.
While the number of those who felt safe in their communities was very high, those who had been victims of a crime in the 12 months before the survey did not feel as safe, Mathieu noted. The percentage dropped from 97.2 percent to 87.7 percent, according to the survey.
The survey said that "40.4 [percent] of respondents who were victimized by a crime say they reported the incident to local law enforcement agencies, significantly lower than the 52.7 [percent] rate in 2006."
One reason some victims do not report crime is that "62.8 percent of the people know the people who" victimized them, and those involved "really believe that [reporting the crimes] is going to make it worse," Cost said.
The length of time it takes to get justice and the belief that the punishment often does not fit the crime are other reasons, she said.
Ross said he was surprised by a lot of the survey data, but added, "What I'm not surprised to see is that alcohol and drug abuse is driving this."
Copyright 2011 - Bangor Daily News, Maine
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
