Maine Ranked Among America’s Best States for Police Officers

Maine police departments are earning high marks, according to a new report ranking the state among the nation’s best.

The popular finance site WalletHub recently published a report on the best states for police officers, and Maine found itself near the top. In fact, the Pine Tree State was named the 14th-best state in the nation for the boys and girls in blue.

How Good is Maine for Police Officers?

Maine’s overall score in the report was 46.97, about 13 points behind the top-ranked state, California. The rankings were based on three major categories: Opportunity & Competition, Law Enforcement Training Requirements, and Job Hazards & Protections. The report was further broken down into 30 subcategories to ensure the findings were as detailed as possible. You can read more about the methodology here.

Maine’s strongest category was Job Hazards & Protections, where it finished ranked ninth overall. This category included some very important metrics, such as violent crime rates, police officer injuries, officer-involved shootings, property crime, and road safety, just to name a few.

Law Enforcement Training Requirements was another solid category for Maine, with the state finishing 17th overall. Again, this is an important ranking because it focuses on police training, continuing education, and de-escalation training, all of which have become increasingly important in recent years.

These are two strong showings for Maine, and residents should feel good about them. There are a lot of critical factors involved here, so seeing Maine and its police departments prioritize these areas only benefits both officers and the communities they serve.

However, where Maine’s ranking really hit a wall was in Opportunity & Competition. The state ranked 45th in the nation in that category, which is downright dreadful. And let’s be honest, this is a pretty important area considering it includes job opportunities, starting salaries, career growth, and the number of officers per capita. That’s certainly not ideal, especially when departments across the state are trying to hire and retain the best possible candidates. It seems like many communities may need to take a serious look at how to rectify these issues.

What are the Best New England States for Police Officers?

Still, even with that low ranking, Maine managed to finish as a Top 15 state overall, which is something to be proud of—especially considering much of New England also ranked highly.

Here’s a closer look at where the rest of the region landed:

2. Connecticut
11. Massachusetts
17. Rhode Island
28. New Hampshire
43. Vermont

Well, at least Vermont still has the Super Troopers.

As mentioned above, California was ranked as the best state for police officers. But what about the worst? That dubious honor went to Alaska. Apparently chasing down criminals across a state the size of Libya isn’t exactly a dream assignment.

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You can see the full rankings here.