MASON CITY – A new report out today says Iowa is a pretty safe place, but Mason City ranks just 27th out of towns in the Hawkeye state with 10,000 or more population.
To identify the safest cities in Iowa, the National Council for Home Safety and Security reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics along with their own population data and internal research. They eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and removed cities with populations under 10,000.
The remaining cities were ranked based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) per 1,000 people. These variables were then weighted, with violent crimes accounting for 1.5 of the total (due to their severity) than property crimes.
The safest city in Iowa is Norwalk, according to the report. That city’s police department said, “Because of an awesome community of responsible and proactive residents, Norwalk is now the Safest City in Iowa.” Pella and North Liberty were second and third, respectively.
Mason City is ranked 27th. Comparably, Fort Dodge is 29th and Marshalltown is 23rd.
“I think that the numbers reflect what we have been saying about Mason City,” Chief of Mason City Police Jeff Brinkley tells NIT. “We have low violent crime (1.36 per 1,000) compared to many cities of similar size. Our property crime rate is a little higher than some cities that are similarly sized. At the end of the day, I think violent crime is the deciding factor for residents when they think about quality of life. By that measure, we are fourth on this list. Mason City is a safe place to live and raise a family.”
The National Council for Home Safety and Security is a national trade association comprised of licensed alarm installers, contractors, and other relevant trade groups across the United States. Their stated goal is to further industry education and public knowledge about home safety and security.
We are sure the chamber of clowns will rectify this situation by greyhounders from obamma corrupted deadtroit and chitcago.
If they ever went to Yes/Way North after dark we would drop to the bottom for sure.
…I don’t think we (as a city) are working hard enough here! We certainly have “enough” guys & gals doing bad things day in and day out, we’re just not trying hard enough to show our “talents”…but then the courts, due to overcrowding, seem to turn everyone loose as it is anyway…come on Mason City…we can do better and move our city into the upper rankings!
it all has to do with how and what is reported to the fbi . every city does it different. its apparent that Norwalk does not report its crimes the same as mason city or any other city in iowa. simple assault is not taken into account, yet some cities don’t report a assault as serious unless the victim goes for medical help, may have the pulp beat out of him but unless goes to dr its reported as a simple assault. remember figures don’t lie but lie’ers figure.
27th out of towns with a population of 10.000 or more is NOTHING to be proud of. Has to be near the bottom