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Maine

State Overview - State Summary - State Projects
Available Reports - Sample Data Collection Forms - Available Data - Links

State Overview

Domestic Violence Legislation:	Yes (19-A:§4002)
NIBRS Status:	Certified
Additional Elements:	Yes
Law Enforcement DV System:	Mixed Incident-Based/Summary
Service Provider DV System:	Summary
Service Provider SA System:	Summary

State Summary

Maine does have legislation defining domestic violence that only includes partners who have lived together or are or were sexual partners. No specification is made on gender of the partners. The state is NIBRS certified with 16 of the 133 law enforcement agencies are currently submitting incident-based data to the Maine State Police. Sixteen data elements in addition to what is required are collected, including several pertaining particularly to incidents involving law enforcement officers killed or assaulted (LEOKA). Additional data elements are outlined in the pdf document NIBRS Reporting Manual and include:

geocode

local geocode

Maine statute

modus operandi

entry method

entry direction

entry point

suspect vehicle body style

suspect vehicle style

tools used

security

LEOKA incident type

LEOKA assignment type

LEOKA activity type

offender descriptor

arrestee descriptor

Law enforcement agencies that do not submit NIBRS data are required to provide quarterly reports to the state police. These reports include a supplemental domestic assault section, which include summary counts of different domestic situations by weapon type. Data are published in annual reports and are available upon request. The Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis Center, part of the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Service, works extensively with domestic and sexual violence data in the state and is conducting a statewide victimization survey. The results of the survey will be published in a report.

The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence collects summary counts of services and clients from its pdf document nine member programs on a monthly basis using standardized forms that vary based on the service provided by the agency. The Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault collects summary hotline and client activity data from ten sexual assault centers in the state using a standard form. The Coalition is in the process of implementing software to house the database. Both the Coalition to End Domestic Violence and the Coalition Against Sexual Assault share their data with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

The Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine also collects data from hotline calls and sexual assault centers in York and Cumberland counties. The agency uses standard forms to collect information from law enforcement, medical examiners, legal service providers, and sexual assault response teams. All of the data are compiled into an annual report and are available upon request. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, formerly the Bureau of Health, maintains the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for the state. The survey, conducted every four years, has included the sexual violence module since 2002.

The Office of the Maine Attorney General prosecutes all homicides in the state, over half of which result from domestic violence. As a result, the Office has formed two groups to examine the issue: The Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse and the Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel. The Commission makes recommendations on legislative and policy actions, while the Panel reviews domestic homicide cases and recommends methods of improving systems for protecting victims from domestic and sexual abuse.

State Projects

Statewide Strategic Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women
With a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Maine Department of Human Services, Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse, and the Maine Primary Care Association are teaming up to integrate and implement a strategic plan to reduce violence against women in the state.

Enhancing Safety: Domestic Violence Project
With a grant from the Violence Against Women Office, the Maine District Court is expanding the Domestic Violence Coordination Project with three additional courts. Courts in York and in Portland have successfully developed a model that improves service to citizens involved in domestic violence cases. Key elements of the project include: coordination of information about other court cases (criminal, divorce, family) that involve the same people; increased judicial monitoring of the offenders' compliance with court orders; and training and improved practices for judges, clerks, prosecutors, bail commissioners, law enforcement, victim services, probation officers, and others participating in the project.

Available Reports

General Crime

Maine State Police (Annual). Crime in Maine. Department of Public Safety.
Rubin, M. (2007). Maine crime victimization report: Informing public policy for safer communities. Maine Statistical Analysis Center.
Rubin, M. (2006). Arrests in Maine. Maine Statistical Analysis Center.
Rubin, M. (2006). Corrections in Maine. Maine Statistical Analysis Center.
Rubin, M. (2006). Index crimes in Maine. Maine Statistical Analysis Center.
Rubin, M. (2005). 2004 crime and justice data book. Maine Statistical Analysis Center.
Rubin, M. (2004). 2003 crime and justice data book. Maine Statistical Analysis Center.

Domestic Violence

National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2008). Domestic violence counts 07: Executive summary for Maine.
National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2007). Domestic violence counts: Executive summary for Maine.
Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel. (2006). It's everybody's business: Domestic violence homicides in Maine. Office of the Maine Attorney General.
Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. (2005). Domestic abuse in Maine.
Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. (2005). Statewide prevention plan.
Rubin, M. (2005). Domestic violence and firearms. Maine Statistical Analysis Center.
Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel. (2004). "'Til death do us part": Domestic violence homicides in Maine. Office of the Maine Attorney General.
Office of the Maine Attorney General. (2004). Domestic violence prosecutions in Maine.
Leitenberg, B. (1999). Domestic violence is a rural health issue. Institute for Health Police Maine Rural Health Research Center.
*Pearson, J. (1997). Divorce mediation and domestic violence. NCJ 164658. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Sexual Assault

Dorsey, C., Sheehy, A., Shaler, G., and Macdonald, C. (2003). The arrest, prosecution and sentencing of sex offenses in Maine: Survey results. Maine Statistical Analysis Center.
Ullian, L. (2002). Attrition of sex offender cases in Maine's criminal justice system: The role of the victim and the criminal justice community. Maine Statistical Analysis Center.

Violence Against Women

Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse. (2005). Report of the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse and the Governor's Advisory Council on the prevention of domestic and sexual violence.
Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2002). Healthy Maine 2010: Longer and Healthier Lives. (See Chapter 6: Injury). Maine Department of Human Services.

Sample Data Collection Forms

This is the summary form submitted to the Maine State Police by agencies not reporting NIBRS data:

Supplemental Domestic Assault Report

These forms are collected by the Coalition to End Domestic Violence from its member agencies:

These forms are collected by Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine:

The Maine CDC conducts the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, which includes the sexual violence module:

2005 BRFSS Questionnaire

Available Data