Appleton and Fond du Lac topped the list as the two safest metropolitan areas in the United States, according to the recently released Morgan Quitno Press 11th annual list of the safest cities in America.
The Fond du Lac police department is extremely proud of their high ranking.
“We are very proud of our community members and our fellow area law enforcement partners that allowed us to experience this outstanding recognition,” Officer Kevin Lemke, Captain of Special Services, said.
Lemke attributes Fond du Lac’s success to an excellent police force but also to an overall feeling of community.
“I think Fond du Lac has an extremely good quality of life,” Lemke said. “We have excellent schools, businesses, and we have a unique closeness that larger communities don’t have.”
Not only did Fond du Lac and Appleton make the list, but four other Wisconsin metropolitan areas ranked in the top 25 nationally. Oshkosh-Neenah ranked fourth, Wausau came in at number nine, Lacrosse at number 10 and Sheboygan at number 13. Out of all states, Wisconsin had the highest number of cities listed in the top 25 metropolitan areas.
Morgan Quitno Press is a private research and publishing company specializing in reports comparing states and cities in various subject areas. For their annual urban safety report, 354 cities were included, naming the top city overall, top cities with populations of 500,000+, 100,000+ and 75,000+ and the top metropolitan area.
In the ranking of individual cities, Newton, Mass. emerged as the least dangerous in America.
“Newton has an outstanding record when it comes to fighting crime,” said Scott Morgan, President of Morgan Quitno, in the report’s release. “It reported no murders and boasts some of the lowest rates among cities for rape, robbery and motor vehicle theft.”
Along with listing the safest cities, Morgan Quitno listed the most dangerous. This year, Camden, NJ, claimed the ill-famed number one spot on that list. It was joined in the bottom five by Detroit, Atlanta, St. Louis and Gary, Ind.
Morgan Quitno Press uses a variety of criteria to compose their annual list, including murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft.
Data from each category is plugged into a formula that is then weighed against the national average. The farther below the national average, the better the city is ranked in the final list; the farther above the national average, the worse the city is ranked.
Some big cities, such as Chicago, were not included in the rankings for various reasons. The guidelines in Illinois for what constitutes rape remained incompatible with the guidelines Morgan Quitno follows. However, if rape statistics were taken out of the formula, Chicago would be ranked the 38th most dangerous city.
Lemke believes in order to have a safe city, the police department must expect a lot from their employees.
“We expect more out of our officers than just answering calls,” Lemke said. “We expect them to be problem solvers and solve problems before they become issues.”
