Greenwich Is 3rd Safest 'City' in U.S.

Neighborhood Scout, a web-based real estate research organization, has ranked Greenwich as the third safest 'city' in the country, based upon crime statistics filed with the FBI.

The ranking—which came as Greenwich Police Chief James Heavey and Police Commissioner and First Selectman Peter Tesei were locked in a budget facedown with the Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation over staffing levels—is an improvement from last year's ranking. In 2012, Greenwich was ranked the 13th safest city in the country.

According to the Neighborhood Scout website, the "100 safest cities in America with 25,000 or more people, based on the total number of property and violent crimes per 1,000 residents. Crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, murder, forcible rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault."

The research is based upon the number of total crimes reported to the FBI that have occurred in each city, and the population of each city. The safest city in the country is Franklin, MA followed by Bergenfield, NJ.

According to the website, Greenwich reported 27 violent crimes and 423 property crimes in 2012.

"We saw a 28 percent reduction in crime," Heavey told Greenwich Patch. "It's in direct response to our partnership with our community—if they see something, they say something."

Heavey did take the opportunity to point out that with the present staffing levels and budget issues, his department now handles more than 65,000 calls per year with 65 officers in the patrol division. Back in 1959, the department had 66 officers assigned to patrol and the total number of calls that year was 8,174, according to Heavey.

Other Connecticut towns making the top 100 are Glastonbury (No. 28), Cheshire (No. 29), Vernon (No. 73), and Shelton (No. 80).