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the FBI is now using Incident-Based Reporting data, which replaced the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting system. The new system counts 29 offense categories instead of the previous eight, officials said.


The statistical number of crimes is higher because they’re counting more offenses as crimes this year.
Jesus Christ, Kennebec Journal....that headline is going to terrify the idiots who get all their news from fifteen words or less. >

TLDR: Maine is using a new method of recording crime so even though the numbers are drastically higher than previous years, the actual crime rate is still on a downward trend.