Mexico tops the list when it comes to burglary – Mexico, Maine that is, according to a new crime survey of the state’s 450 communities.
Breaking and entering may be a nonviolent crime, but it’s still pretty unnerving for those victimized by it.
Having your house broken into can make you feel violated.
Moreover, to have it happen in a small, rural town is disproportionately unsettling for the victims of it.
“When you think ‘most burglarized’, your brain immediately goes to bigger cities with larger populations,” reports 94.3, WCYY, which reviewed the statistics. “However, in a state as big as Maine, burglary can actually be worse in more rural towns.”
The stats, compiled by Safewise.com, show Mexico as the most-burglarized community in the state.
One out of every 200 residents in the small western town has reported being a recent victim of a break-in, annual stats show.
“Always somebody thinking they need what others have, but too lazy to work for it,” Tanja Kennedy of North Waterboro said, posting on the Facebook.
Mexico, in Oxford County, is near Rumford and considered to be part of the greater Lewiston-Auburn metropolitan area.
Historically a paper-making mill town that bills itself as “Gateway to the Western Mountains,” its population was last listed as 2,756.
The safest Maine community overall is Cape Elizabeth, according to Safewise.
Eliot comes in as second-safest, and Orono, third. Cumberland is fourth while Hampden is fifth.
South Berwick is the sixth-safest, followed by Gorham in seventh place.
Oakland ranks eighth. Falmouth is ninth-safest and York the tenth.
The survey’s safety rankings are based on an average of property crime and violent crime.
