For release Monday November 22,
1999. Contact Scott Morgan, 785-841-3534 or e-mail at info@morganquitno.com For release Monday November 22,
1999. Contact Scott Morgan, 785-841-3534 or e-mail at info@morganquitno.com
Lawrence, KS—Newton, Massachusetts has done it. This city of 80,924 people located just outside Boston has moved up the Morgan Quitno rankings and is America’s Safest City. The sixth annual award, which compares crime in 315 cities, was announced today by Morgan Quitno Press, a Lawrence, Kansas-based publishing and research company. At the opposite end of the scale, Detroit, Michigan earns the dubious distinction as the nation’s most dangerous city.
"Newton certainly has earned this award," said Scott Morgan, President of Morgan Quitno. "The city had no murders and the third lowest burglary and robbery rates in the country. With such a stellar safety record, Newton is an easy winner of our annual Safest City Award."
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. (Explanation of methodology and full details at www. morganquitno.com/safecity.htm.) All cities of 75,000+ populations that reported crime data to the FBI for the six crime categories were included in the rankings and each of the six crimes were given equal weight. Final 1998 statistics were used in determining the rankings.
Rounding out the top five behind Newton are last year’s winner, Amherst, NY; Mission Viejo, CA; Thousand Oaks, CA and Greece, NY. Joining Detroit at the more dangerous end of the Morgan Quitno crime scale are Atlanta, GA; Camden, NJ; Baltimore, MD; and St. Louis, MO
In addition to ranking the safety of cities, Morgan Quitno also examines the overall safety of metropolitan areas. In those rankings, Pittsfield, Massachusetts beat out 246 other metropolitan areas and is the winner of the Safest Metropolitan Area Award. Bringing up the rear of the metropolitan area rankings for the third year in a row is Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
The sixth annual Safest City and Metropolitan Area rankings are announced in the upcoming, revised edition of City Crime Rankings, an annual reference book from Morgan Quitno Press which will be published next week. The Safest City and Metropolitan Area rankings are one of four Morgan Quitno Awards announced annually by the publishing company. These other annual announcements designate the nation’s Most Livable State; the Healthiest State; and the Safest and Most Dangerous State.
Additional information on these awards, plus rankings for each of the 315 cities and 247 metropolitan areas considered for the Safest City and Metropolitan Area Awards, are available from Morgan Quitno Press via the Internet at www.morganquitno.com or by calling 785-841-3534.
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