Safety · South Portland
South Portland, ME crime & safety
South Portland's reported crime rate is close to Maine's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 15 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how South Portland compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
Reported crime, 2025
South Portland at a glance
Violent crime
0.6
per 1,000 residents · Maine 1
Property crime
10.6
per 1,000 residents · Maine 9.6
Incidents reported
301
15 violent · 286 property
Since 2022
▼ 41%
change in reported property crime
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
South PortlandMaine
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | South Portland property | Maine property | South Portland violent | Maine violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 17.9 | 12.3 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
| 2023 | 11.5 | 11.4 | 1.1 | 1 |
| 2024 | 13.7 | 11.6 | 0.6 | 1 |
| 2025 | 10.6 | 9.6 | 0.6 | 1 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
252
Burglary
17
Vehicle theft
17
Aggravated assault
6
Robbery
7
Rape
2
Homicide
0
Arson
1
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps South Portland safe
Local public safety
👮 South Portland Police DepartmentReports its crime counts to the FBI — the figures on this page.
🚨 EmergenciesCall 911. For non-emergency numbers, alerts and preparedness, see the town guide.
Next door
South Portland and its neighbors
Reported crime per 1,000 residents in each town's latest year. * = a count, for towns under 1,000 people.
| Town | Violent | Property | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Portland | 0.6 | 10.6 | 2025 |
| Portland | 2.4 | 19.2 | 2025 |
| Cape Elizabeth | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2025 |
| Scarborough | 0.6 | 8 | 2025 |
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can't tell you
- It's reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many thefts and some assaults are never reported.
- Small numbers swing. In a town of about 27,100, a handful of incidents moves the rate noticeably from year to year. The trend matters more than any one year.
- Visitors count too. Towns with a campus, highway, beach or shopping center see incidents involving people who don't live there, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn't report a full year, not that nothing happened.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. This isn't an official statement of public safety — in an emergency, call 911.