The City of Rancho Santa Margarita is once again ranked #2 among California's Top 50 Safest Cities, according to the 2022 Safest Cities Report conducted by SafeWise.
Rancho Santa Margarita – The City of Rancho Santa Margarita is once again ranked #2 among California's Top 50 Safest Cities, according to the 2022 Safest Cities Report conducted by SafeWise. This is the City's 5th year in the number 2 spot in the state.
The safe city ranking undoubtedly stems from the City's hard-working law enforcement professionals and attentive and involved community members and businesses.
"We are honored to be recognized as Orange County's safest city and ranked as the second safest city in all of California," said Mayor Anne Figueroa. "Public safety is the City Council's top priority. We are grateful to the men and women of the Orange County Sheriff's Department for their service as our partners in public safety. By working together, we can ensure that our residents and businesses continue to thrive in one of the state's safest and most desirable cities."
"This ranking is not by accident," said OCSD Captain Mihaela Kennedy, Rancho Santa Margarita's Chief of Police Services. "Rancho Santa Margarita is an observant and engaged community. We will continue our work to keep families safe here in RSM with proactive policing."
The Annual SafeWise Safest Cities Report uses FBI crime statistics data to rank cities in each state and across the country. The report relies on voluntary, self-reported information that cities and jurisdictions across the country report through the FBI Summary Reporting System (SRS) and National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). To add extra insight and depth, the report also includes demographic information and the results of SafeWise's proprietary State of Safety research study.
The report determined that all of the 10 Safest Cities in California -- including the City of Rancho Santa Margarita -- reported violent and property crime rates below state, regional, and US rates.
Additionally, among the safest cities, there were fewer reports of each major property crime this reporting year. The City's violent crime rate maintained at a low level of 0.6 from the past year, and the City's property crime rate decreased from 9.1 to 8.7. These low rates further demonstrate the City's commitment to public safety and its emphasis on taking a proactive approach to deter crime.
To read the full 2022 SafeWise Safest Cities Report, visit this link.