Crime in Maine
Certainly, Maine is not without any occurring crimes, but the instances of wrongdoings and acts of violence are, I think, much fewer that those experienced in other places… with all of the school shootings that are truly incomprehendable! Surprisingly, very few Native Mainers lock their home doors or their cars. Those from “away” almost always lock everything up as a result of having lived where it was wise to do so.
Many people choose to move to Maine because they are uncomfortable living in large urban area were crimes are just a fact of life. Some choose to live and work in Maine for other reasons unrelated to lower crime rates. For example, most newcomers to Maine like knowing that we have very few natural disasters occurring in Maine. Others, like knowing that we have no poisonous insect or snakes. However, we do have to dodge mosquitoes and black flies when they are in season – usually in late spring and early summer, but we all get good at it.
Maine is not a wealthy state so one might suspect that impoverished, low-income people might be more prone to experiencing social problems that cause them to be prone to theft and other unacceptable conduct. But, there does seem to be a strong correlation to that occurring in any alarming number of instances.
I suspect that much of explanations lie in the tendency toward strong parental guidance of children from their early years and on. For most, there is a strong sense of family and an early imprinting of practicing good manners. Then, too, there are so many things for kids to do to keep them out of trouble. Church youth groups, scouting, 4-H, sports (especially, Little League, school Intramural teams, and similar activities), year-round recreational programs, summer camps – all have a positive influence on our kids.
So, Maine is truly one of the better place to live safely, contentedly and with very little of the problems that routinely occur elsewhere. That’s a good feeling to have!
