For Centennial, one national accolade is becoming a December
routine.
The city was again named the safest in Colorado by CQ Press, an
imprint of SAGE Publications, for the seventh year in a row. The
400-city list is published annually in a reference book titled City
Crime Rankings. Centennial came in at No. 16 overall, 37 spots
ahead of Longmont, the next Colorado representative.
Only municipalities with at least 75,000 residents were
included, disallowing other south metro participants such as
Littleton, Englewood, Lone Tree and Parker. The study examined
statistics in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated
assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft. The new book, City Crime
Rankings 2011-2012: Crime in Metropolitan America, contains an
in-depth analysis of the findings.
Centennial improved its overall ranking from No. 23 last year.
The city doesn’t have its own police force, instead contracting
with the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement
services.
“It’s an honor for the City of Centennial to once again be
recognized as the safest in Colorado,” Mayor Cathy Noon said in a
prepared statement. “This would not be possible without the
dedication and commitment of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s
Office.”
The safest city in America, according to the CQ Press
statistics, is Indianapolis suburb Fishers, Ind. Rounding out the
top five are O’Fallon, Mo.; Mission Viejo, Calif.; Ramapo, N.Y.;
and Newton, Mass. In addition to Centennial and Longmont, other
Colorado cities that made the top 400 are Arvada, Boulder, Fort
Collins, Westminster, Greeley, Lakewood, Aurora, Colorado Springs,
Denver and Pueblo.
The honor of being the safest city in Colorado, which Centennial
has earned every year since 2005, is the result of collaboration,
forward-thinking and hard work.
“I never expect it, because I don’t take for granted the work
that the men and women I’m blessed to work with do,” Arapahoe
County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said. “These things don’t just
happen, you have to go out and make it happen. The partnerships we
have and our commitment to community policing are the critical
reasons for coming up with these kinds of results.”
He also pointed to once-a-month strategy sessions that
anticipate issues before they become major problems. Despite the
continuing accolades, the sheriff stressed that his office is
focused on police work, not garnering attention or basking in the
spotlight.
“We don’t look so much at where we rank or what the numbers are,
we try to take it a day at a time and do the best work we can do to
keep our community safe,” Robinson said. “We’re not too focused on
the scoreboard, frankly.”
