Congratulations Murrieta! Through excellent cooperation and partnership, the citizens of Murrieta, and the officers of the Murrieta Police Department have obtained the status of the 2nd safest city in all of America with populations of at least 100,000 residents.
An article and video was recently published in the Wall Street Journal discussing violent crime and naming the five safest cities in America. The article and video can be viewed at this link: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/12/09/the-safest-cities-in-america-2/
The article stated Murrieta and its residents tended to be economically prosperous with a median income that exceeded the national average of $53,657. Other common attributes of the safest cities was a high percentage of high school and college graduates in the cities. Safe cities like Murrieta were noted as highly desirable places to live because of their close proximity to urban centers with their cultural and economic benefits as well as high paying jobs.
Having lived here in Murrieta for over 25 years, and working for the PD for almost 20 of those years, I have some pretty strong ideas of why we consistently place so high in the safest city ranking.
The overriding factor in my opinion is the true partnership the police department has with our community. Murrieta citizens are very cognizant of how nice and safe our city is to live in. As our partners, they get involved when they see possible crime or suspicious activity. Fulfilling our role as partners, our officers take all their call seriously and conduct thorough investigations.
Another big factor is many of your Murrieta officers live right here in the city limits. Their spouses work here and children go to school here. We have a personal stake in keeping crime low and aggressively look for crime and suspicious activity and addressing it whether on or off duty. Many times our dispatch center phones light up with one of our off duty officers calling in on their personal phone as they are observing a crime occurring or some type of suspicious activity. Officers are able to get first hand information from a law enforcement officer and handle the issue immediately.
Lastly, since day one our police department has had the full backing of our elected officials in the city. Every council that has been elected fully supports public safety. They show that support in many ways including funding the needs of a local police and fire department.
So Murrieta, enjoy your ranking as the second safest city in America and keep those calls coming in as our partners fighting crime.
Just like it says on the door of every one of our police cars, we are in “PARTNERS WITH OUR COMMUNITY.”
The Murrieta Police appreciates all the support our community gives us throughout the year. This is an awesome community. We enjoy living here and consider it an honor to serve the citizens of Murrieta in our chosen profession of Law Enforcement. I welcome your questions and suggestions for future articles and can be contacted directly at the Murrieta Police Department at 951-461-6302 or jfroboese@murrieta.org.
