Fairfield Ranks Among Safest Communities In Connecticut

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield ranks among the safest communities in Connecticut, according to recent report by Safewise, First Selectman Mike Tetreau and Police Chief Chris Lyddy announced on Monday. SafeWise, an online safety resource that helps families and communities make informed decisions, recently issued its annual 20 Safest Communities in Connecticut Report for 2019 with Fairfield placing seventh.

“The safety and security of Fairfield remains our highest priority,” Lyddy said in a news release. “Our effectiveness is directly related to the close partnerships we have forged with our residents, businesses, and community organizations.”

According to Safewise, the most up-to-date (2017) FBI crime report statistics and population data is used for this report. Safewise's methodology is based on the number of reported violent crimes in each community. If there was a tie, Safewise also factored in the number of property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft). To level the playing field, Safewise calculated the rate of crimes per 1,000 people in each community to make it easier to directly compare the likelihood of these crimes occurring in communities with vastly different populations.

According to the Report, some of the Key Findings include:

• 85% of this year’s safest communities are on the list for the second year (this includes Fairfield); and

• Connecticut’s crime rates are lower than the national averages, with 2.55 violent crime incidents per 1,000 people and 19.53 property crime incidents. Nationwide rates are 4.49 for violent crime and 27.11 for property crime; and

• Being robbed is the top violent crime worry, and safest city reporting supports that—only three cities had zero incidents, and the reports ranged from one to 25, with a total of 146 being reported among all cities, which makes it the second-most common violent crime after aggravated assault (166).

In addition to ranking the State’s safest towns, SafeWise also conducted a nationwide “State of Safety” survey to find out what people are actually worried about when it comes to safety. Key findings among Connecticut’s residents include: 16 percent of CT’s State of Safety respondents had a personal experience with digital security in the past year which is eight percentage points below the national average of 24% and having someone access sensitive information is the primary digital security fear, with 73% naming it their top concern. Those correlations and other useful findings were added to SafeWise’s report.

“We are very proud to receive this high honor,” Tetreau said. “Keeping the public safe is our top priority. I would like to give a special thanks to our dedicated police, fire, and telecommunicators as well as the EMTs and volunteer residents who work tirelessly to protect and serve our community.”

Pictured: Police Chief Chris Lyddy, First Selectman Mike Tetreau, Captain Robert Kalamaras, Lieutenant Ed Greene and Detective Belinda Papageorge at Police Headquarters on Reef Road. (Contributed photo and article)