The Bangor Police Department will change how it reports some crimes, weeks after a statewide report showed that the city had the highest crime rate in the state.
The changes concern Bangor’s skyrocketing numbers of intimidation cases. The city reported 704 intimidation cases in 2024, about five times more than Portland despite having less than half the population.
The police department’s reporting of intimidation cases is “flawed,” Chief Mark Hathaway said at a city council workshop on Feb. 25.
The Bangor Police Department’s decision comes months after a Bangor Daily News analysis of statewide crime data found that agencies across Maine are reporting crime statistics differently. Those discrepancies cause some cities to look more dangerous than others because they are not following the same standards.
Hathaway cited the BDN’s reporting during the meeting, confirming the article was accurate.
“We aren’t going to suggest that other police departments are not reporting data accurately,” Hathaway said. “It’s just such a variable in how the data can be reported. We’re not all reporting the data the same way.”
Hathaway declined to speak to the BDN.
The Bangor Police Department reported 35 intimidation cases in the month of June, with one labeled as a duplicate. They show that Bangor police included everything from dog poop complaints and roommate disputes to homicidal statements, according to reports obtained by the BDN through a Freedom of Access Act request.
Intimidation, or criminal threatening in Maine, is when words or actions are used to threaten someone without a physical attack or displaying a dangerous weapon.
Maine police departments began using a new database, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System, in 2021. Agencies report all parts of a crime under the new system, instead of only logging the most serious crime, an expert previously told the BDN.
Law enforcement submits local crime data to the state, which then forwards the reports to the FBI, Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss said.
Bangor follows the FBI standards, Sgt. Jason McAmbley told the BDN in October. Portland police still use the old system where they only log the most serious crime, even if multiple crimes happened at the same incident, Crime and Police Systems Analyst Kelly Crotty previously said.
Individual police departments enter each report and what they enter varies based on training and how they interpret an incident, Moss said. The FBI offers regular training to help with consistency.
In Bangor, crime statistic reports are reviewed by Lt. Brent Beaulieu before they are submitted. Beaulieu hadn’t been reviewing intimidation reports, he said, instead focusing on higher level crimes.
Beaulieu said he will check for accuracy in intimidation reports and ensure cases that are unfounded are not counted.
In Holden, Police Chief Eduardo Benjamin reviews and manages his department’s reports. He said he would report intimidation cases if someone was threatened or in fear of bodily harm without weapons displayed. Holden police document all cases but not all cases are reported to the FBI, Benjamin said.
The change in Bangor will be reflected in the state’s 2026 crime report, which won’t be released until late 2027 or early 2028.
“We are not dangerous,” Hathaway said about Bangor. “It is safe to be downtown. It is safe to travel around Bangor. It is safe to visit our shops and restaurants and pubs. It is safe.”