City Crime Rankings Once Again Names Amherst, New York America’s Safest City

Morgan Quitno Awards ^ | 11-25-2003 | Morgan Quitno

[Cagey]

Detroit, Michigan Returns as Most Dangerous

Lawrence, KS—Amherst, New York is on a winning streak. For the fourth consecutive year, the citizens of this upstate New York community can boast that they live in America’s Safest City. The honor will be announced in the new edition of City Crime Rankings, an annual reference book of crime statistics and rankings slated for publication in early December. The results of the tenth annual Safest City Award, which compares crime in 350 cities, were announced today by Morgan Quitno Press, a Lawrence, Kansas-based publishing and research company. At the opposite end of the crime scale, Detroit, Michigan returns to the spotlight as the nation’s most dangerous city.

“Amherst’s record speaks for itself, “said Scott Morgan, President of Morgan Quitno Press. With crime rates that are among the lowest in the nation, it is no wonder that this community shines year after year in our annual competition.”

The Morgan Quitno Safest City Award is based on a city’s rate for six basic crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft. All cities of 75,000+ populations that reported crime data to the FBI for the six crime categories were included in the rankings. Final 2002 statistics, released by the FBI on October 27, 2003, were used to determine the rankings.

Joining Amherst at the top of the Safest City rankings were Brick Township, NJ; Mission Viejo, CA; Simi Valley, CA and Cary, NC.

At the opposite end of the Morgan Quitno crime scale, Detroit, Michigan returns as the nation’s most dangerous city. The Motor City anchored the crime rankings in 1999, 2000 and 2001 before it was ousted last year by St. Louis, Missouri. Detroit is joined at the bottom of the crime rankings by (in ascending order) St. Louis, MO; Atlanta, GA; Camden, NJ and Washington, DC.

In addition to ranking the safety of cities, Morgan Quitno Press also examined crime in metropolitan areas. In those rankings, Bangor, ME was this year’s Safest Metropolitan Area. The Pine Bluff, AR metropolitan area ranked as the most dangerous.

The findings of the tenth annual Safest City and Metropolitan Area Awards are announced in City Crime Rankings 10th Edition, an annual reference book from Morgan Quitno Press. The newly updated edition of this volume will be available December 8th. The Safest City and Metropolitan Area rankings are one of five Morgan Quitno Awards announced annually by the publishing company. These other annual announcements designate the nation’s Most Livable State (a state quality of life survey); the Healthiest State (a survey of state health care); the Safest and Most Dangerous States (a state crime survey) and the Smartest State (a state education survey).

Additional information regarding the results of the tenth annual Safest City and Metropolitan Area Awards is available from Morgan Quitno Press via the Internet at www.morganquitno.com. The website provides methodology and rankings of the top and bottom 25 cities. A full report featuring information for all 350 cities is available online for $3.00.

[Cagey]

OVERALL: (350 cities)
SAFEST 25:		MOST DANGEROUS 25:
1	Amherst, NY	1	Detroit, MI
2	Brick Twnshp, NJ	2	St. Louis, MO
3	Mission Viejo, CA	3	Atlanta, GA
4	Simi Valley, CA	4	Camden, NJ
5	Cary, NC	5	Washington, DC
6	Thousand Oaks, CA	6	Compton, CA
7	Colonie, NY	7	Dayton, OH
8	Clarkstown, NY	8	Baltimore, MD
9	Orem, UT	9	Tampa, FL
10	Sunnyvale, CA	10	Gary, IN
11	Farmington Hills, MI	11	Memphis, TN
12	Troy, MI	12	North Charleston, SC
13	Irvine, CA	13	New Orleans, LA
14	Lake Forest, CA	14	Richmond, VA
15	Sterling Heights, MI	15	Trenton, NJ
16	Canton Twnshp, MI	16	Jackson, MS
17	Roswell, GA	17	Cincinnati, OH
18	Parma, OH	18	Youngstown, OH
19	Provo, UT	19	Cleveland, OH
20	Huntington Beach, CA	20	Springfield, MA
21	Stamford, CT	21	Oakland, CA
22	Hamilton Twnshp, NJ	22	Birmingham, AL
23	Billings, MT	23	Miami, FL
24	Edison Twnshp, NJ	24	Richmond, CA
25	Fremont, CA	25	Reading, PA

[Bad Sheep]

You say safest. I say lack of excitement.

[Nat Turner]

amherst is right next to buffalo, so there is your lack of excitement LOL

[I still care]

Sunnyvale, CA? But don't they have all those vampires there? :)

Well I'm number #9 on the bad side :(

[Cagey]

amherst is right next to buffalo, so there is your lack of excitement LOL

True, but then there's always Niagra Falls. Hahahaha

[Puppage]

right next to buffalo

Which, if memory serves, is next to Lackawana. Wasn't there 8 TERRORISTS arrested there not too long ago?

[Puppage]

Amherst, New York America’s Safest City

Yes, but is it THE MOST FREE?

Do they hide behind locked doors with bars on their windows? Lots of people prefer SAFETY to LIBERTY.

[kitkat]

***right next to buffalo

Which, if memory serves, is next to Lackawana. Wasn't there 8 TERRORISTS arrested there not too long ago?***

Amherst is north of Buffalo, Lackawanna is south of Buffalo. So Amherst is not right next to Lackawanna.

I make that statement with apologies to the many good, patriotic Americans who live in Lackawanna. Oh, by the way, Lackawanna produced Father Baker who is now being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church. Father Baker saved large numbers of orphans and gave them a good education and a good start in life. If only there were more like him.

And, no, I don't live in Lackawanna.

[Maelstrom]

My mother-in-law lives there...
...that should explain everything.

[Maelstrom]

No, but the street separating Amherst from Buffalo is as inviolate as the former Berlin Wall and separates differences almost as stark.

[Prince Charles]

Looks like the right column is governed by Dems, and the left column mostly GOPers. :-)

[kitkat]

***Yes, but is it THE MOST FREE?

Do they hide behind locked doors with bars on their windows? Lots of people prefer SAFETY to LIBERTY.***

You obviously don't know anything about the area, so why are you criticizing?

[Maelstrom]

You can't explain to someone that residents of the area are wealthy enough to ignore gun control laws or how police are circumspect enough not to care overly much.

:-)

0 cases of self-defense reported.

[Bonneville]

Bump for my home town (or suburb actually)and no, It's just a middle to middle-upper class suburb with a good school system and ,what matters most, a good police department that does more than sit in parked cars being revenue agents. Taxes ARE a bit high for the area though...

[Wurlitzer]

Amherst was a GOP (as much as possible in NY State) stronghold for some time. It is not dull. Amherst has however begun the slide to the left as more human debris from Buffalo exits the city and establishes a foothold in this fine town.

What Amherst, any many other areas in Western New York, does not have is mud slides, hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes. Yes the area does get snow. So what? When other areas of the country have something bad approaching, the government types tell the citizens to flee their homes (or else). When bad weather approaches Western New York we are told to stay home. I'll take staying home to fleeing any day. I have lived in the "snow belt" for the last 20 years and have only missed 1 day of work because of snow. Can Californians, Floridians or other "special" people say the same for their associated disasters?

[Puppage]

You obviously don't know anything about the area, so why are you criticizing?

Since WHEN do you need to "know" an area in order to talk about the GENERAL subject of SAFETY? Does SAFETY come AT A COST? Hmm? It is NOT a criticism. Safety & LIBERTY are 2 totally different things.Why are YOU upset? Can you get a carry permit in Amherst?

[kitkat]

***You can't explain to someone that residents of the area are wealthy enough to ignore gun control laws or how police are circumspect enough not to care overly much. ***

You're thinking of East Amherst when you speak of "wealth." Most Amherst residents are blue-collar workers or small business people.

[Maelstrom]

Amherst isn't that big.

Buffalo on one side and I believe beginning with Jubilee at Kensington Ave, it's Cheektowaga.

That corner of Amherst acts as a bulwark for the rest of the town.

[Maelstrom]

Cut it out...you're damaging your own credibility because you don't have any idea what's happening there.

[Tatze]

Amherst was a GOP...

Now the obvious question, or challenge. Who has the time to look up the political affiliation of the Mayor and City Councils of the best and worst?? We know Amherst, and I'll add one other. Atlanta, GA is 100% Democrat.