Shawangunk residents can rest easy knowing the town was ranked the 14th safest in the state and 48th in the country in Safewise’s 5th annual Safest Cities report.                                                                                                                                           

“The town is very proud of this award,” Town Supervisor John Valk said.

The annual report ranks towns based on violent crimes reported in the 2017 FBI Unified Crime Reporting Statistics. In the event of a tie, property crimes are also considered.                                                                                                                         

Shawangunk had a violent crime rate of .14 per 1,000 and a property crime rate of 5.56 per 1,000. The town has ranked as one of the safest communities in the state for several years.                                                                                                           

“Our residents should be very pleased that we have a safe town,” Valk said.

This is compared to the state average of 3.57 violent crimes per 1,000 people and 15.14 property crimes per 1,000 people. The national rate of violent crime is 3.83 per 1,000 people and 23.62 property crimes per 1,000 people, according to 2017 FBI Unified Crime Reporting Statistics.                                         

Valk commended the Shawangunk Police Department for its role in keeping the community safe. He also attributed the ranking to Shawangunk’s quiet, small-town atmosphere.                                                                                                                     

Each city in the top 20 safest New York cities reported a violent crime rate of less than 1 per 1,000 people and fewer than 10 property crimes per 1,000 people.                                                                                                                                                         

Safewise also reported New York had seven communities report zero violent crimes, the most of any state.                                                                                                       

“Low crime isn’t always what comes to mind when you think of New York, but the Empire state had more cities than any other state that reported zero violent crimes—seven,” Safewise Security Analyst Rebecca Edwards said. “And among all 20 cities, there were no counts of murder reported and only two counts of rape.”                                                                                                                             

Plattekill ranked 65, the Town of Newburgh ranked 71, Crawford ranked 92 and Walden ranked 97 safest community.