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For the fourth year in a row, the town of Danville has been recognized as the safest community in California, according to an annual study conducted by a national security company.
Pleasanton and San Ramon were the only other Tri-Valley cities mentioned in the study conducted by home and online security provider Safewise, which analyzed property and violent crime statistics from hundreds of California’s municipalities to list the top 50 safest “cities” in the Golden State.
“The safety of our community, and all of the people in it, has always been and will always be a critical part of our mission and a high priority for the town,” Danville Town Manager Joe Calabrigo said of the designation.
To conduct the study, Safewise analyzes reported FBI crime statistics and U.S. Census population data to rank the safest cities in each state. Communities are graded based on the number of violent crimes — aggravated assault, murder, rape and robbery — as well as property crimes — burglary, arson, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft — that occur in each city per 1,000 residents and ranked.
In the top spot, the report found that Danville saw a violent crime rate of 0.5 occurrences per 1,000 residents as well as a property crime rate of 6.6 per 1,000 residents.
Violent crime rates rose slightly in Danville compared to the previous report according to Safewise, which documented 0.5 instances per 1,000 residents the year before. Property crime has declined however, with 7.2 cases being reported per 1,000 residents the year prior.
Neighboring San Ramon was also ranked on the list, being designated as the 25th safest city in the state. It was a sharp decrease to the city’s placement in last year’s study, which designated the city as the seventh safest in California.
In 2020’s rankings, FBI statistics reported 0.6 violent crime occurrences per 1,000 residents and 10.3 property crimes per the same ratio, while this year’s reported 0.8 violent crimes and 14.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
Pleasanton also secured a spot on the list, being ranked as the 49th safest community in California with 1.3 violent crimes and 19.4 property crimes occurring per 1,000 residents. This is a nine point drop for Pleasanton, which last year was ranked as the 40th safest city.
Narrowly missing out on the top 50 were Dublin which is the 54th safest with 1.6 violent crimes and 19.1 property crimes occurring per 1,000 residents, and Livermore which is the 55th safest with 2.1 violent crimes and 17 property crimes occurring per 1,000 residents.
“Californians are highly concerned about their safety, especially when it comes to violent crimes,” Safewise researcher and writer Katie McEntire said in the report. “But those we surveyed showed less experience with violent crime since last year and much less property crime since 2020. Though these rates have dropped year over year, they’re still higher than average.”
Each Tri-Valley community’s crime rates rested significantly below the state average, which according to Stafewise reported 4.4 violent crimes and 23.3 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
Pleasanton has grown exponentially because of its outstanding Schools. Property values have gone up, people’s dispensable income has gone up, crime rate has gone up as well. City managers, City Council and PPD should be concerned. What is the City Government going to do about it?