By Steve Smith
FIRESTONE — The Town of Firestone might want to consider changing its name to Fort Knox.
After being deemed earlier this year as the second-safest community in all of Colorado by real estate website Movoto, the online housing consultants cast a wider net in a recent study ranking the safest small towns in America.
Firestone was ranked No. 6.
“Firestone’s citizens value a greater quality of life, and with that comes a higher demand on superior public safety,” said Firestone Police Chief David Montgomery. “The Firestone Police Department is a state accredited law enforcement agency that offers highly trained and educated individuals who provide a high level of service to keep the safety of our citizens a top priority. This designation shows that we are continuing our commitment to enhance the quality of life that our citizens expect.
“We are very fortunate to service a community such as Firestone and I contribute some of our success to the law abiding citizens who live in our community,” Montgomery added. “The results are a testament of the good people who live here and (is evident) in a recent survey by our citizens, who rated their police department with an … above 90 percent approval rate.”
Continuing to keep up with those expectations could be a challenge: Since 2010, Firestone has experienced a 10 percent annual increase in population, and factors such as affordable housing and easy highway access could cause those number to continue to rise.
In the meantime, city officials and law enforcement will continue to do what they’ve done so well to this point.
“The Firestone Police Department continues its commitment to its residents to work together in partnership for the safety and security of the town,” said communications and community outreach coordinator, Kristi Ritter, in a press release Sept. 19. “This is done through listening to the community and striving to exceed expectations. With ongoing programs such as Neighborhood Watch and outreach efforts in local schools, the department is always working to educate local residents.”
Rankings for the Movoto study were based on small towns in the United States with populations between 5,000 and 25,000 people. The real estate consultants then used the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report from 2012 to compile data on specific crimes put into four categories: murders, violent crimes, property crimes and total crimes. That data was then calculated per 100,000 residents in order to fairly compare towns of all sizes.
According to a summary on Movoto’s site (www.movoto.com/blog/top-ten/safest-small-towns/): “If you want some natural beauty and seriously nice views with your safety, this town is the one you’ve been looking for. Along with the plethora of lovely parks to relax in, Firestone had the 12th lowest violent crimes on our list, including no murders or robberies reported in 2012.”
The same held true for Firestone in 2013, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s 2013 Uniform Crime Report, In the two years prior to data used by Movoto, Firestone had just one robbery per year and no murders. Firestone’s 17 reported assaults in 2013 ranked it among the lowest in the state and even with neighbor Frederick in terms of assaults committed and/or reported.
According to Movoto, residents of Firestone in 2012 had just a one in 104 chance of being a victim of even the lowest of crimes, with only 921 property crimes reported throughout the year.
“Top that off with a very caring community and you’ve pretty much got it made,” the summary concludes.
While Firestone’s ranking was impressive, it was not the highest-ranked community in Colorado in terms of safety: Erie was ranked No. 4.
According to the report, Erie was one of the lowest communities in the nation in terms of violent crimes, despite being one of the largest communities included in the study at nearly 19,000 people. Movoto said only one in 162 Erie residents are likely to be the victim of any crime in Erie.
Rounding out the top 10 were Zionsville, Ind. (No. 1), Hillsborough, Calif. (No. 2), Trophy Club, Texas (No. 3), Nolensville, Tenn. (No. 5), Moraga, Calif. (No. 7), Purcellville, Va. (No. 8), Los Altos Hills, Calif. (No. 9) and Signal Mountain, Tenn. (No. 10).
In March, online financial consultant NerdWallet.com named Firestone the best city in all of Colorado for home ownership. In 2013, Money Magazine named the town the 24th best place to live in Colorado.
Contact Jeremy Johnson at
303-659-2522, ext. 217, or
jjohnson@metrowestnewspapers.com.
