The Ten Most Dangerous Cities In Maine
One of my favorite websites, roadsnacks.net, has come up with their list of 'The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Maine'.
They analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report which summarizes the number of property crimes and violent crimes in each city per year.
Violent crimes are defined as rapes, murders, robberies and aggravated assaults.
They only looked at cities that have populations of more than 5,000 people as of 2013, which is the last year the report was available. This left them with a total of 56 cities in Maine to rank.
Here's the list:
- Augusta
- Biddeford
- Skowhegan
- Waterville
- Bangor
- Sanford
- Portland
- Auburn
- Lewiston
- South Portland
Here's why they have Augusta as number one:
'It’s a semi-rare thing to see state’s capital on the list of most dangerous cities in that state – to see it as the MOST dangerous? That’s unheard of.
But Augusta, the third smallest capital in America, is the most dangerous place in Maine, and the second most violent city.
Augusta residents faced a 1 in 278 chance of being the victim of violence in 2013 and a 1 in 16 chance of being the victim of a property crime – both statistics that have barely changed in recent years.
Here's what they had to say about Skowhegan and Waterville:
'Skowhegan’s motto is “A Place to Watch,” but with their property crime as it is, they should maybe amend that to “A Place to Watch Your Wallet.”
While violent crime has remained stagnant in recent years, property crime went up by 19% between 2011-3.
That left Skowhegan residents with a 1 in 17 chance of being the victim of theft or arson in 2013.'
'Just 25 miles north of Augusta, Waterville ranks in the top 5 for both violent and property crime.
And while the city is about half a violent as Biddeford, its below average score still earns it the title of fourth most dangerous city in Maine.
The good news is that violent crime was reduced by about 10% from 2011-3, but the bad news is that property crime rose by 21% in that period.'
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