Maine crime down, pharmacy robberies hit new high

AUGUSTA, Maine Maine's crime rate fell slightly in 2012, but robberies showed a sharp increase because of the record number of pharmacy holdups, officials said Wednesday.

Maine's overall crime fell by 1 percent during the year, but robberies rose by 14 percent, the Department of Public Safety announced. The 35,074 crimes reported to police represent a crime rate of 26.4 offenses per 1,000 people, far below the national rate of 33.1 offenses per 1,000 people.

Commissioner John Morris attributed the robbery increase solely to the 56 pharmacy robberies during the year. Without those, the robbery category would have gone down.

"Drugs remain a key reason for much of the crime in Maine as addicts commit these robberies to feed their habits," Morris said in a statement. "Prescription drug abuse is responsible for much of the state's drug problem."

The statistics show that aggravated assaults and burglaries were each down by 5 percent, car theft decreased by 8 percent and rape decreased by 6 percent. There were 26 homicides, down from 28 in 2011. Crime in both rural and urban area was down and arsons fell by 13 percent.

Domestic violence reports rose by 5 percent, and juvenile arrests went up by around 1 percent.

The 2012 crime rate was in stark contrast to 2011, when every crime category except robbery went up from 2010.

Maine's rate for violent crime is about one offense per 1,000 people, compared to the national rate of four offenses per 1,000 people, the department said.

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Maine crime down, pharmacy robberies hit new high