Danbury Is Safest CT City; Stamford, Waterbury Next

Danbury has been ranked as the safest city in Connecticut according to the annual publication, City Crime Rankings 2012-2013: Crime in Metropolitan America, released by CQ Press.  The city narrowly missed the top 100 safest cities in the U.S, ranking at #106 nationally, sandwiched between Aurora, IL and Peoria, AZ. The other ranked Connecticut cities were Stamford at #152 (just ahead of Santa Rosa, CA) and Waterbury at #218 (just ahead of Raleigh, NC), followed lower down the list by a close grouping of Bridgeport at #404 (just ahead of Buffalo, NY), Hartford at #411 (just ahead of Dayton, OH) and New Haven at #418 (just ahead of Little Rock, AK).

“Our city employs some of the finest Police Officers in our region.  The deep dedication that our Officers have for our community’s well-being is evident by this ranking,” said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.  We are proud of their work and we will continue focusing our efforts on maintaining exceptional public safety.”

The rankings of the safest and most dangerous cities and metropolitan areas are calculated using six basic crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft.  These categories have been used for determining city ratings since 1999.  The rankings include all cities of at least 75,000 residents that reported crime data to the FBI in the categories noted.

Among cities with 500,000 residents or more, the lowest crime rate rankings were in El Paso, TX;  San Diego, CA and New York City.  Cities with between 100,000 and 499,000 population were led by Naperville, IL; Amherst, NY and Irvine, CA.  Among cities with between 75,000 and 100,000 population, the lowest crime rates were in Fishers, IN; Johns Creek, GA and O'Fallon, MO (Newton, MA was fifth).

The nation's highest crime rates, according to the rankings, were in Detroit and Flint, MI and Camden, NJ.

The purpose of City Crime Rankings, according to the publisher, is to serve as a resource for researchers, city and law enforcement officials, and the community.