Provo, Orem are safe places

PROVO — For the second time this year, the Provo-Orem metro area has been ranked as one of the safest in the country by a national research firm.

In a recently released survey conducted by the Kansas-based firm Morgan Quitno, Provo-Orem ranked as the 19th safest out of 320 metropolitan areas in the United States, down from a ranking of 11th last year.

In this year's survey, Orem was ranked as the 23rd safest city in America and Provo was ranked 32nd. Sandy was ranked 50th, Ogden 164th, West Valley 177th and Salt Lake City was the state's most dangerous ranked city, with a ranking of 256th.

The survey was based on FBI crime statistics in six categories — murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft.

While Provo and Orem remained ranked in the top 50, both cities slipped a few notches from last year's survey.

"Car stereos do us in," said Provo spokesman Mike Mower. "Statistically, we do really well when it comes to violent crime."

Orem Police Lt. Doug Edwards said Orem didn't rank as high this year because the city saw an increase in the number of thefts. "It's great any time they rank us, and we've consistently been ranked high," he said.

Police officers in both cities credit their residents for keeping the communities safe. Both Provo and Orem have fewer police officers per capita than the national average.

Orem, for example, has two officers per thousand residents while the national average is eight officers.

Edwards also credits the city's hard-working police force and said a city-run citizens academy, which is a mini-police academy, has been successful in teaching residents to be watchdogs for their neighborhoods.

Provo police say their city ranked lower than Orem because it is larger — an estimated 106,769 residents compared to Orem's 84,934 — and has a larger transient population.

The Morgan Quitno survey also offered some surprises. New York City, for example, was ranked 156 — ahead of Ogden, West Valley City and Salt Lake City.

"You have to remember it's based on per capita, crimes per thousand people," Edwards said. "So statistically, your chances of being victim of a crime, maybe not a serious crime, are better in Salt Lake City than in New York. I would guess that you would have a greater chance of being victim to a serious crime in New York."

Earlier this year, Farmers Insurance Group asked database experts at Sperling's Best places to compile a list of the safest metropolitan areas based on crime statistics, job-loss numbers and risk of natural disasters. Provo/Orem ranked first. And according to Sperling's crime rankings, which were based on numbers compiled by the FBI, Provo/Orem has the lowest crime rate among 114 mid-sized metropolitan areas, and the fifth lowest murder rate.

In April, a research firm in Georgia rated Brigham Young University as the safest campus in the nation for schools of its size. The school reported 19 crimes in 2002, compared with an average of 124.45 crimes reported by other schools with more than 20,000 students.

---

E-mail: jhyde@desnews.com