Waukon ranks number one in recently-released SafeWise report of "2015 Safest Cities in Iowa"
Waukon Police Department appreciates, welcomes partnership with the community ... While one might automatically think that designation of being the Safest City in Iowa reflects solely on the law enforcement officers of a community such as Waukon, the seven officers pictured above from the Waukon Police Department are quick to also give credit back to the members of the community for being proactive in reporting suspicious or troublesome activity, helping prevent situations from escalating into bigger issues. Pictured above, left to right, are the seven officers of the Waukon Police Department: David Burrett, Alyssa Petersburg, Assistant Chief Paul Wagner, Chief Phil Young, Chris McCartney, Jeremy Wicks, Chad Dugan. The officers encourage members of the community to get to know them in an effort to continue the partnership between the community and law enforcement they feel plays a significant role in designations such as the number-one ranking the city of Waukon recently received in the SafeWay report of the 2015 Safest Cities in Iowa. Submitted photo courtesy of Rachel Burras.
SafeWise, an independently-owned organization offering review and comparisons on information and products related to home security, released its 15 Safest Cities in Iowa Report for 2015 December 7, and the city of Waukon was ranked number one in that report based on criteria used by SafeWise to compile such rankings. To coordinate the report, SafeWise analysts considered the most recent Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) crime data on violent crimes and property crimes from the year 2013 to rank applicable cities in the state of Iowa which have a minimum population of 3,000 people.
Although local law enforcement would be most people's first thought when it comes to a city's safety ranking such as one conducted by SafeWise, Waukon Police Chief Phil Young and his crew of six additional officers are quick to give credit back to members of the community themselves.
"Waukon Police would like to thank the citizens of Waukon and community for their efforts in helping make Waukon obtain this recognition of the Safest City in Iowa," Chief Young offered. "Nationwide, Police officers are generally a response entity. We would prefer to prevent a bad situation then to react after the fact. This is where the police can only be as good as the community is. If the community is vigilant and proactive, then law enforcement can be too."
According to information provided by the SafeWise organization on its website, the organization uses the most up-to-date FBI Crime data as the foundation for its reports, relying on information that cities across the nation report through the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. The organization recognizes that there may be cities that either reported incomplete data to the UCR or did not report data at all and, therefore, were not included on the list.
SafeWise also determines an appropriate population threshold for each state and only reports on cities with populations higher than that number. That threshold number is based on the state’s population as a whole and the number of cities to be included in the list. Using a population threshold reduces the risk of outliers, and lowers the likelihood of an extreme outlier skewing the data, SafeWise explains.
"Living in a small city has its advantages, you know most of your neighbors and most visit with each other and share safety concerns in the neighborhood," Chief Young commented. "These safety concerns need to be shared with law enforcement. The Waukon Police Department is a 24-hour service and feels that regular citywide patrols help keep crime at a minimum, along with fast response to any situation."
HOW THE
RANKINGS ARE CALCULATED
Once the field of eligible cities has been established, SafeWise then evaluates each city based on its corresponding data. The data used to calculate each city’s safety score is comprised of information on violent crimes - such as aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder and robbery - as well as property crimes - such as arson, burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft.
In an effort to standardize the data, and level the playing field for cities of varying populations, each city is analyzed and then scored to reflect crimes per 1,000 residents. SafeWise calculates a city's overall safety score by adding its Violent Crimes/1,000 Population score to its Property Crimes/1,000 Population score.
WELCOME TO NE IOWA
In the case of Waukon's top safety ranking, the city reportedly recorded 0.26 violent crimes per 1,000 people in 2013, as well as 1.30 property crimes per 1,000 people. The combination of those two scores adds up to an overall safety score of 1.56 that was lower than any other city in Iowa with a population of more than 3,000 people, ranking Waukon first in the final SafeWise rankings (see accompanying chart report).
Neighboring Decorah actually recorded the lowest amount of violent crimes per 1,000 people (0.12) of all 15 Safe Cities on the SafeWise report during the 2013 reporting period, but had a much higher property crime rate of 7.90 per 1,000 population to end up eighth on the final list with an overall safety score of 8.02. Fellow northeast Iowa community New Hampton ranked fourth on the SafeWise list.
"The Waukon Police Department shares information with other law enforcement in the area, and that awareness is also a helpful tool against crime," Chief Young explained.
The complete report and additional information about SafeWise and its Safest Cities Report can be found online at http://www.safewise.com/blog/safest-cities-iowa-2015/.
SafeWise also conducts a Safest Cities of America report for communities having a population of 10,000 or more residents. Hibbing, MN in far northeast Minnesota ranked as the number one Safest City in America, according to that SafeWise report, with an overall score of 0.62.
Chief Young says the importance of the community and law enforcement partnering together has been a key to Waukon achieving its recent top-end ranking. He and his fellow officers invite the public to continue that partnership that has proven effective.
"As we see on TV, hear on the radio, and read in the newspapers, bad incidents happen anytime and anyplace, we are not exempt; we live in a different world today and communities need to report suspicious activity," he said. "If you see something, say something. Law enforcement would rather respond to nothing, than not being able to stop one bad incident from happening. Law enforcement officers are trained to diffuse a situation before it gets out of control, but without prior knowledge of the situation we can only react after the fact."
ABOUT SAFEWISE
SafeWise is a community-focused safety organization committed to increasing home and community safety, education, awareness and preparedness. The SafeWise organization offers an independent review and comparison website dedicated to providing consumers with comparison tools, information, and educational materials about home security systems, home security monitoring, and home security techniques. The SafeWise brand has been recognized by many trusted media sources, including The Huffington Post, AngiesList, Mashable, and Homes.com, for their efforts to award law enforcement, neighborhood watch, and civic leaders who go the extra mile to keep their neighborhoods safe.
