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Published: December 07, 2007 10:25 am
City ranks high in FBI list
John A. Williams
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND —
According to the FBI’s latest statistics, Edmond is ranked one of the safest cities in the nation and the safest city in Oklahoma.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report looks at violent crime numbers including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
“The numbers clearly reflect that Edmond continues to be at the top when it comes to being one of the safest cities to live and raise a family in the entire nation,” said Edmond Police Chief Bob Ricks.
He credits the relationship between the community and the department for the low crime statistics.
“We’ve had support in the fact that the citizens have voted a public safety tax to help us hire more officers and better equip them,” Ricks said. He also credits the work and quick response of the officers for the high safety record.
“We do not let small crimes go unaddressed,” he said. “If a slow response time allows a situation to get out of hand it can make the situation extremely difficult.”
Edmond ranked 12th among U.S. cities with a population more than 75,000. Five other Oklahoma towns also were ranked in the FBI report. Broken Arrow and Norman rank 48th and 49th respectively. Oklahoma City ranked 267th, Lawton ranked 314th and Tulsa was 345th.
The crime rate per 1,000 residents shows Edmond has a violent crime rate of 1.20. Broken Arrow has a 2.05 rating while Norman is third in the state with a 2.06 rating. Midwest City has a 4.80 rating, Lawton shows a 10.21, Oklahoma City has 8.02 and Tulsa sits at 12.48.
The FBI numbers are for crimes committed in 2006. The state numbers were measured among cities with a population more than 19,000.
Edmond recorded 91 violent crimes for the year 2006 while Broken Arrow reported 178. Norman had 211 violent crimes for 2006, Midwest City reported 266, Lawton had 929, Oklahoma City had 4,301 and Tulsa had 4,816.
The nation’s safest city, as ranked by the FBI report, is Orem, Utah. Ranked ahead of Edmond were Irvine, Calif., Mission Viejo, Calif., Clarkstown, N.Y., Greece Town, N.Y., Brick Township, N.J., Amherst, N.Y., Troy, Mich., Round Rock, Texas, Toms River, N.J., and Canton, Mich.
Here is a breakdown of the FBI violent crime numbers for Edmond in 2006:
Murder — 1
Rape — 30
Robbery — 14
Aggravated assault — 46
Total — 91
Number of officers — 112
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