The New England State of Maine is home to 3,500 miles of coastline, 2,000 coastal islands, 6,000 lakes and ponds, and no less than 5,100 rivers. Its more than 17 million acres of forest cover about 90 percent of the state, and 616 of its border miles are shared with Canada.
It comes as little surprise, therefore, that Maine has a considerable federal law enforcement presence. The Customs and Border Protection alone, for example, oversees 18 ports of entry in the state, while the military and civilian personnel of the U.S. Coast Guard work out of 10 coastline locations.
In fact, according the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008, 603 full-time, federal law enforcement officers named Maine as their primary state of employment. Of those, the majority (325) were in inspections/noncriminal investigations, followed by police response/patrol (166).
Federal Law Enforcement Education and Training in Maine
The acceptable, first step to a career in law enforcement is increasingly recognized as a college degree. Not all federal law enforcement careers require the completion of a college degree, but just as many do, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. Marshals, just to name a few.
Beyond a formal education, jobs in federal law enforcement demand specific training, most of which is completed through one of the programs of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC). The closest FLETC location to federal law enforcement professionals in Maine is the FLETC-Cheltenham, which is located in Maryland.
The FLETC-Cheltenham, which is located just 15 miles from the nation’s capital, has become the site of world-class law enforcement training programs. Just a few of the facilities located there include:
- Firearms simulators
- Driver training simulators
- Scenario-based exercises
- Canine operations
- Indoor firing range
- Multi-purpose classrooms
Federal Law Enforcement Offices in Maine
Within Maine are a number of federal law enforcement offices:
United States Coast Guard
- Portland
- Kittery
- South Portland
- Boothbay Harbor
- Rockland
- Belfast
- South Harbor
- Southwest Harbor
- Jonesport
- Eastport
United States Secret Service
- Portland
United States Marshals
- Portland
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
- Vanceboro
- Van Buren
- Rockland
- Portland (service port)
- Madawaska
- Limestone
- Jonesport
- Jackman
- Houlton
- Fort Kent
- Fort Fairfield
- Eastport
- Calais
- Bridgewater
- Belfast
- Bath
- Bar Harbor
- Bangor
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
- Portland
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- Augusta
- Portland
- Holton
Federal Law Enforcement Specializations in Maine
The Maine District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of a wide array of federal crimes, including (among others) drug crimes, economic crimes, violent crimes, and healthcare fraud. The Criminal Division of the District of Maine is broken down into a number of units or programs that are designed to organize and allocate resources and manpower:
- Asset Forfeiture: Involves civil and criminal cases associated with the forfeiture of real property, vehicles, and currency
- Economic Crimes: Involves the investigation and prosecution of economic crimes, including bank fraud, insurance fraud, money laundering offenses, securities fraud, environmental crimes, etc.
- Healthcare Fraud: Involves the investigation and prosecution of complex healthcare fraud cases
- Organized Crime Drug Enforcement: Involves the investigation and prosecution of drug cases and drug-related offenses, with an emphasis on major illegal drug importation and distribution
- Anti-Terrorism and National Security: Involves anti-terrorism investigations, including espionage, munitions smuggling and breaches of national security
- Violent Crimes: Involves kidnapping offenses, immigration violations, hate crimes violations, and civil rights violations