Town Continues as Safest City in North Carolina and in the Southeast

November 24, 2008

CARY, NC – The Town of Cary has been declared the 3^rd safest in the nation among municipalities with populations of 100,000 to 499,999 by CQ Press, publisher of the annual “City Crime Rankings 2008-2009: Crime in Metropolitan America”; the town previously held the 4^th safest city ranking in the same category in 2007.  Amherst , NY and Irvine , CA were named the top two safest cities among municipalities with populations of 100,000 to 499,999.  As of October 1, 2008 , Cary ’s estimated population was 132,647. 

Also once again, Cary is the highest-ranked municipality in North Carolina and in the southeast among the nation’s safest cities overall, a designation that the Town has held for ten years in a row.  This year, Cary ’s overall safety ranking was 15^th safest when compared with every community of any size in the report.  

“Even though Cary continues to be the safest large community in North Carolina and one of the safest places in the nation, we never lose sight of the fact that each crime we do have forever impacts one of our family, friends, or neighbors,” said Chief Pat Bazemore.  “Keeping Cary safe is inextricably tied to keeping Cary one of the best places to live, work, and raise a family, which is why we are constantly looking for opportunities to prevent crime from occurring.” 

Bazemore noted that some of the areas that Cary is particularly focused on at this time include “protecting our businesses and residents from cyber crimes, helping keep our children out of gangs, educating our citizens on what they can do to help prevent their personal property from being stolen from cars and garages, and using a multi-disciplinary team to eradicate crime from our rental properties.”

Cary ’s pick as a safe city came in an announcement from CQ Press, a publisher of books, directories, research publications, and Web products on U.S. government, world affairs, and communication.  A city’s rate is determined by six basic crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft.  All cities with 75,000+ populations that reported crime data to the FBI for the six crime categories were included in the rankings.  Final 2007 statistics were used in determining the rankings.

“When it comes to staying safe, we have to credit not only our tremendously talented, dedicated, and professional police team but also our citizens who really are our partners in our tireless and unending focus on addressing crime,” added Bazemore.

Additional information on these awards is available from CQ Press via the Internet at www.cqpress.com or by calling (202) 729-1846.  

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