El Paso has placed second on America’s safest cities list for 2017.
The ranking was announced by SafeWise, a home-security and safety awareness company. It based its findings on the most recent FBI crime data from 2015 to analyze and rank cities that have a population greater than 300,000 residents. New York City was ranked first place. Historically, El Paso and New York City have swapped positions for nearly ten years.
The rankings are based on an aggregation of violent crime and property crime, according to SafeWise. Both property and violent crimes were equally weighted and the city rankings were determined by the per capita rate of crime. The overall improvement in crime rates from previous years was also evaluated.
“Because El Paso is a border town, its low crime rate may surprise you, but it shouldn’t,” read a statement on the SafeWise website. “Officials say that this community is made stronger by the hard-working ambition of immigrant families and individuals who make border towns their home.”
The city of El Paso is happy with the results.
“This recognition clearly reflects that our police safety initiatives are working well for our diverse community,” said El Paso City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. “We will continue our 10-year staffing plan of 300 new officers so we can continue to lead our country in public safety.”
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.The Top Ten
1. New York City, New York
2. El Paso, Texas
3. Virginia Beach, Virginia
4. San Diego, California
5. Santa Ana, California
6. San Jose, California
7. Tampa, Florida
8. Mesa, Arizona
9. Los Angeles, California
10. Boston, Massachusetts