Southern Oregon cities among the top 20 safest in the state

Talent, Central Point, Ore.– For the third year in a row, Safewise has released a list of the 20 safest cities in Oregon. A handful are in southern Oregon, including Talent and Central Point.

“Our officers and our city work real hard to provide that type of atmosphere to our community and we take a lot of pride in that,” Captain David Croft of the Central Point Police Department says.

Rounding out the top 20 safest cities in Oregon is the city of Central Point. The town of more than 18,000 , jumped 11 spots from 2016. Central Point Police Captain David Croft says a proactive approach is key.

“By not responding call to call, we’re able to go out at night and hit all the streets in our community,” Captain Croft says.

“We’ve seen a drop in thefts, we’ve seen a dramatic drop in burglaries,” Talent Police Chief Curtis Whipple says.

The improvement was even more significant for Chief Whipple’s community. Talent, jumped 14 spots this year, coming in at 11.

“This year we’ve had a 40% increase in our warrant arrests,” Chief Whipple explains.

Chief Whipple credits a community that’s not afraid to call police, if something doesn’t seem right.

“They know their neighborhood better than anybody else,” Whipple says, “and if they see something that’s not right, they know it’s not right better than anybody else.”

The annual report looks at violent crimes like murder, assault, and robbery. It also looks at property crimes like burglary, arson, and motor vehicle theft. The national average was 3.83 violent crimes, and 24.87 property crimes, per 1,000 people.

In Talent, there were just over 2 violent crimes and 20.5 property crimes per 1,000 residents, while in Central Point, there were just under 1.8 violent crimes and 26.15 property crimes per 1,000 residents. Both agencies credit good community relationships, and prevention through things like neighborhood watch, and vacation house checks as ways to reduce crime. They add one of their best defenses against crime however, is you.

“If you see something say something,” Chief Whipple says.

“Lock up your property, close your garage doors, secure your vehicles,” Captain Croft says.

“Don’t make it easy for individuals to make you a victim of crimes,” Whipple adds.

Brookings also made the list, at number three.

If you’re wondering why you aren’t seeing towns like Jacksonville, it’s because of their size. Safewise compiles the list using the most recent FBI crime report, and compares  those numbers with population data. The organization eliminates all cities with fewer than 3,000 residents, as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI. Click HERE to see how other cities ranked.

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