by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Sartell has been named as one of the safest cities in Minnesota.
The honor, by Movoto Real Estate, comes on the heels of a recent rating that Sartell is one of the most desirable cities to live for young families.
Movoto ranked Sartell 10th as “Safest Minnesota City.” Hibbing placed first, Lakeville second, followed by Lino Lakes-White Bear Township (tie), Farmington, Chaska, Minnetonka, Maple Grove and Plymouth. Movoto lists 50 Minnesota cities as “safest.”
The ratings were based on the Uniform Crime Report for 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Movoto checked Minnesota cities of more than 10,000 residents for the number of incidents of the following crimes: murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft and vehicle theft. The incidents were then divided into four categories: murders, other violent crimes, property crimes and total crimes. Those categories were tallied on a score system of 1-90, with 1 being the “safest-city” score.
At the time of the study, the population of Sartell was officially 16,258. The incidence of the four crime-category kinds was miniscule, with the incidence of “violent crimes per person” at 0.00025. Murders have been virtually non-existent in Sartell, although one occurred in 2014, apparently the result of a drug deal gone wrong.
The chance of someone being a victim of a crime in Sartell is 1 to 51. Overall, the city has the 26th lowest number of crimes per person in the state. St. Cloud was 80th lowest. On the list of the 50 “safest cities,” Sauk Rapids ranked 20.
“Sartell has an incredibly low number of violent crimes,” the Movoto report states.
Movoto ranked Minnesota as the ninth safest state to live among all 50 states.
