Newtown CT, Safest City Award

Though small, Connecticut has a lot to offer - the exquisite coastline of the Long Island Sound, beautiful colonial homes set amongst rolling hills, and the bustling city of Hartford - this state has no shortage of history and charm. With only eight counties, it’s the third smallest state by area, but it boasts the highest per-capita income, human development index, and median household income. Connecticut is usually grouped in with New York and New Jersey in what is known as the Tri-State area. Settled by English Puritans from Massachusetts in 1633, it was the 5th state to be established and is known as the “Constitution State.” Its $4 billion yearly from tourism is mainly from those visiting the Long Island Sound, which runs along the majority of the Southeast side of the state. The Long Island Sound offers not only gorgeous beaches and lighthouses, but the John P. Humes Japanese gardens, the birthplace of Walt Whitman, and various nature preserves. Connecticut is also home to the oldest public library and the inventions of the Polaroid camera, helicopter, and television.  Link to site (Safest Cities in Connecticut).

Methodoligy

To identify the safest cities in Connecticut, we reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics along with our own population data and internal research. We eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and removed cities with populations under 5,000.

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 100,000 people. These variables were then weighted, with violent crimes accounting for 70% of the total (due to their severity) and property crimes accounting for 30%. Finally, we moved the decimal point over a few spots to show rates per 1,000 people.