Glendale Ranked Among Top 5 Safest Cities in the United States

Glendale Ranked Among Top 5 Safest Cities in the United States

Oct 17, 2022

Statistics recently released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that violent crimes in the United States rose for the first time in four years. Some of the figures confirmed via the FBI report include:

• There were an estimated 1,277,696 violent crimes and 6,452,038 property crimes in 2020.
• The estimated rate of violent crime (such as murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) was 387.8 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, a 5.6% increase from 2019’s rate.
• The projected number of aggravated assaults increased by 12.1%, and murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses increased by 29.4%.
• That 12.1% increase represents the highest single-year spike in killings in at least six decades.
• The rate of property crimes like burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson was around 1,958.2 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants, an 8.1% decline from 2019.
• Victims of property crimes suffered losses estimated at $17.5 billion last year, excluding losses from arsons.

Given the troubling statistics offered by the FBI, recent polls indicate that the number of Americans worried about crime is at the highest level since 2016.

U.S. Residents Express Increasing Fears Over Violent Crime

A Gallup Poll released in April 2022 confirmed that “Americans’ concern about crime and violence in the U.S. has edged up in the past year, and for the first time since 2016, a majority (53%) say they personally worry a ‘great deal’ about crime.” Furthermore, 27% of Americans report worrying about crime a “fair amount” of the time.

The “great deal” of worry cited by Gallup hasn’t been reached by a majority of the nation since 2016. According to Gallup, the following demographics expressed the most worry about crime:

• Women
• Republicans
• City residents

Moreover, another Gallup Poll released in November 2021 highlighted how crime fears among Americans rebounded during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns.

According to Gallup, Americans expressed:

• Worry about mugging, car theft, home burglary (up most since 2020)
• Hacking and identity theft as the most frequent worries

Gallup also confirmed that uses of guns, knives, and mace for protection among Americans have increased the most since 2007.

“Americans’ anxiety about experiencing various crimes has largely returned to 2019 levels after dipping during the first year of the pandemic, when social distancing was still high,” Gallup reported.

“The percentages of U.S. adults who report that they ‘frequently’ or ‘occasionally’ worry about several specific types of violent and property crimes have increased between five and nine points over the past year. These include getting mugged, having their car stolen or broken into, having their home burglarized when they are at home or away from home, being attacked while driving, being a victim of identity theft, getting murdered and being a victim of terrorism.”

The following chart provided by Gallup breaks down specific fears among Americans related to crime:

SmartAsset Study Finds Glendale Among Top 5 Safest Cities in America

A recent study provided by SmartAsset.com looked at the data provided by the FBI and then analyzed it to determine the safest cities in the United States. According to SmartAsset:

“A steep rise in murders fueled this overall uptick in violent crime, as homicides surged 22% from a year earlier… Unfortunately, that trend continued in 2022, as major cities recorded an additional 5% increase in homicides, a report from the Council on Criminal Justice found.”

“The rise in violent crime underscores the importance of finding a safe place to call home. Keeping this in mind, SmartAsset set out to identify and rank the safest cities in America. We examined data from 200 of the largest cities across the following five metrics: violent crime, property crime, vehicular mortality rate, drug poisoning mortality rate and the percentage of the population engaging in excessive drinking,” SmartAsset’s report indicated.

Among the Safest Cities in the United States, SmartAsset.com confirmed that Glendale, California, ranked at #5.

“Located in Los Angeles County, Glendale is ranked among the five safest cities in America in large part due to the eighth-lowest violent crime rate across our study (103 per 100,000 residents). The city of approximately 200,000 people is also tied for the 20th-lowest drug poisoning mortality rate across our study with 10.5 deaths per 100,000 residents,” SmartAsset’s report noted.

Additionally, one other Southern California town – Santa Clarita – and one Northern California town – Sunnyvale – made SmartAsset’s Top 5 Safest Cities in America list:

• #3 – Santa Clarita, California:

“With 907 property crimes reported per 100,000 residents, Santa Clarita has the third-lowest property rate in our study. This suburb of Los Angeles also has the 16th-lowest violent crime rate (131 per 100,00 residents) and 20th-lowest drug poisoning mortality rate (10.5 per 100,000 residents) of the 200 cities included in our analysis,” according to SmartAsset.

• #4 – Sunnyvale, California:

“Sunnyvale, home to more than 150,000 residents, has a drug poisoning mortality rate of 9.4 deaths per 100,000 residents, 13th-lowest for this metric. Meanwhile, 16.9% of the population in this Silicon Valley city engage in excessive drinking, the 18th-lowest across our study,” according to SmartAsset.

The full list of SmartAsset’s Top 35 Safest Cities in the U.S. is as follows:

How SmartAsset Determined the Safest Cities in the U.S.

According to SmartAsset, in an effort to determine the safest cities in the United States, the company compared 200 of the largest cities in the nation using the following metrics:

• Violent crime rate: The number of violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Data comes from the FBI’s 2020 Uniform Crime Reporting Database.
• Property crime rate: The number of property crimes per 100,000 residents. Data comes from the FBI’s 2020 Uniform Crime Reporting Database.
• Vehicular mortality rate: The number of deaths due to traffic accidents per 100,000 residents. Data comes from countyhealthrankings.org and is for 2021.
• Drug poisoning mortality rate: The number of drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 residents. Data comes from countyhealthrankings.org and for 2021.
• Percentage of the population engaging in excessive drinking: The percentage of adults who consumed more than four drinks of alcohol for women or five drinks of alcohol for men on a single occasion over a 30-day period, or who engage in heavy drinking, which is defined as drinking more than one drink per day for women or two drinks a day for men on average. Data comes from countyhealthrankings.org and is for 2021.

“To find our final rankings, we first ranked each city in each metric. Then, we found the average ranking for every city, giving each metric an equal weight. From there, we ranked the cities based on their average ranking, giving an index score of 100 to the top-ranking city and an index score of 0 to the bottom-ranking city,” SmartAsset’s report indicated.

Can I File a Civil Claim for a Violent Crime?

Violent crime is typically understood as an issue that is addressed in criminal courts. However, in some instances, victims of violent crime may be able to file civil lawsuits in an effort to recover financial compensation.

One common example involves what’s known as a premises liability claim – typically involving negligent security on the part of a business or company. Businesses like hotels, casinos, theme parks, and more have a duty of care to protect patrons from harm which may occur due to negligence or carelessness. Accordingly, such businesses need to have proper security in place to protect customers from undue danger.

If a business is negligent in providing proper security and a customer or patron is injured as a result, a civil claim for damages may be warranted. Such claims may help the injured victim recover financial compensation for various losses:

• Hospital or medical expenses
• Pain and suffering
• Diminished quality of life
• Reduced earning capacity
• Lost wages
• Emotional harm
• Punitive damages

If you or someone you care about has been victimized by violent crime, contact a Los Angeles personal injury attorney from Dordulian Law Group (DLG) today for a free and confidential consultation.

Contact the Best California Personal Injury Lawyers to File Your Claim

At DLG, we are dedicated to fighting for justice on behalf of injured victims. Whether you’ve suffered an injury in a car accident, dog bite, slip and fall, or medical malpractice incident, our experienced team of attorneys is here to help you make a complete recovery which includes your overall physical, emotional, and financial well-being.

Ready to file a claim and pursue justice through a financial damages award? Our expert attorneys are available online or by phone now.

DLG’s founder and president, Sam Dordulian, is a former Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County who has dedicated his career to helping injured victims get the justice they deserve. With more than 25 years of experience and over 100 jury trial victories, Dordulian offers injured victims an unparalleled advantage. Together with the DLG team of skilled, dedicated, and proven personal injury lawyers, Dordulian fights to ensure that your case is treated with the compassion, discretion, professionalism, and excellence it deserves.

Contact us today at 866-GO-SEE-SAM to get the justice and maximum financial compensation you deserve for your claim.