• About
  • Advertising
  • History
  • Staff
  • Contact

The Andersonian

The Anderson University Student Newspaper

Anderson University’s Student Newspaper

  • Campus News
  • Audio
  • Features
  • Arts & Culture
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Video
  • COVID-19
You are here: Home / Campus News / Anderson ranked 43rd safest Indiana city

Anderson ranked 43rd safest Indiana city

March 9, 2018 by Allison Armstrong

This year, the city of Anderson was named to the list of the safest cities in Indiana according to the National Council for Home Safety and Security. Anderson is ranked 43 of the 58 cities mentioned. Last year, Anderson was omitted from the list.

“Although we are always trying to improve the safety of our city, cracking the top 50 safest cities in Indiana is a big deal for the city of Anderson,” said Media Affairs Director and Public Information Officer, Samantha Pancol, of the Mayor’s Office.

To determine the safest cities in Indiana, the NCHSS reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics as well as their own population data and internal research. The most recent UCR is from 2016. Cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and cities with populations under 10,000 were eliminated from the list.

The criteria used in the rankings are based on violent and property crimes. Crimes that are deemed violent consist of aggravated assault, murder, rape and robbery. Property crimes include burglary, arson, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft. Drug crimes are not included in the statistics from UCRs.

On average, 6.66 violent crimes are committed per 1,000 people per year in the state of Indiana. The city of Anderson came in under that average at 4.35 violent crimes per 1,000 people. However, it was over the average in property crimes at 41.15 per 1,000 people, compared to the state average of 37.68.

According to the NCHSS, Indiana falls near the average rate for the United States in overall safety.

Although the city of Anderson has moved up in the rankings of safest cities in Indiana, both property and violent crime numbers have increased from 2015 to 2016. In 2015, the UCR reported 233 violent crimes to 240 in 2016. The property crime numbers from 2015 were 2,159, compared to 2016’s report of 2,294.

According to Major Joel Sandefur of the Anderson Police Department, the new administration under Chief Tony Watters has been more aggressive in its policing efforts than the previous administration.

“If you have a policing plan that is more aggressive, that typically means increased arrests,” said Sandefur. “That also means that your crime statistics are going to go up, but hopefully that will have a positive effect on the community by removing that criminal element, we should see crime begin to decrease.”

Officers with the Anderson University Police Department have even been involved in this more aggressive approach. According to AUPD’s Chief, Rick Garrett, they receive between 10 and 15 calls per week from APD on average.

“If we get a call from APD we go,” said Garrett. “We try to stay close to campus, but if it’s an extreme emergency we’ll go where they need us. We want to help them out in any way we can.”

Since taking office in 2016, the Watters administration has instituted the Burlgary Theft Unit. This unit works directly with the Criminal Intelligence Unit, and together they analyze information gathered by officers and detectives in order to direct policing efforts.

According to APD’s Criminal Intelligence Analyst, Regina Leonard, there is some debate on

the accuracy of the FBI’s UCRs.

“Those numbers are real, but they’re not,” said Leonard. “Their numbers are reported based on the ‘highest crime.’ You could have someone who is arrested and charged with theft, robbery and battery but the robbery is the only one that they count. Our BTU takes all of the crimes into consideration to analyzes each one.”

Through these efforts, the police department has been able to recognize trends and has begun focusing their efforts on targeting specific areas that see increased activity. By analyzing the reports, they can see where and when a majority of these crimes are committed and can determine which areas of the city need the most attention from officers.

Leonard believes this new unit might be responsible for the amount of property crime arrests

made in 2016.

“We believe as a result [of the BTU], the 2017 statistics for burglary and theft have dramatically dropped in this past year,” said Leonard. “Our annual report for 2017 just came out. In 2016, we had 520 burglaries. In 2017, we dropped to 410. No one can predict crimes, but there are ways that we can track trends and reports to find problem areas and we’ve seen the numbers go down.”

Although the city of Anderson has been able to move up at least seven spots in the last year, there are still areas that can be improved.

Garrett sees hiring more police officers to patrol the city and having more community involvement as areas for improvement in city safety.

APD swore in three new officers within the last year. AU senior Courtney Skinner is among the newest officers at APD and is in the middle of the field training program. According to Sandefur, officers are hired as needed and that number can be a bit of a “moving target.” APD is budgeted for 112 officers, but is currently below that number.

Sandefur agrees that more community involvement is necessary in improving the overall safety of the city.

“We want to bridge that gap,” said Sandefur. “If the public feels they can’t trust us, they aren’t going to feel comfortable reporting crimes or that they can work with us. That partnership [with the community] is vital to our mission success because at the end of the day it’s about public safety.”

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Campus News, Top Stories

Watch

Miles Morey discusses the long-awaited Bronze Ball victory, the baseball team’s double header against Manchester and the Rocket League’s progress.

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Jacey Crawford and Jesse Hernández discuss campus restriction lifts, including reinstated events and student attendance for outdoor sports.

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

More Video

Listen

Raven Watch 2020-12-07

On this episode of the Raven Watch Podcast, Jordan is joined by former Big Ten Player of the Year and Indiana Pacer Clark Kellogg as they discuss displaying your faith in sports, Clark’s career as a player and broadcaster and his game of “H.O.R.S.E.” with President Obama.

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Raven Watch 2020-12-03

On this episode, Jordan Yaney sits down with senior soccer player Drew Sonnefeldt to discuss his soccer career, trips to Europe, hobbies, and dreams of playing professional soccer

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Raven Watch 2020-09-24

In the third Raven Watch Podcast, Jordan Yaney talks with Hannah Hawkins, a senior basketball player, about starting her freshman year 0-25, becoming more of a leader on the team and facing their one-on-one battle on the court freshman year. Thanks to our sponsor, the Folgate Agency. Please contact Steve Folgate for Allstate insurance and […]

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Raven Watch 2020-09-18

In the second-ever Raven Watch Podcast, Jordan Yaney talks with Kennedy Parker, a senior baseball player, about finding out last season was canceled while the team was in Florida, why he decided to come back for a fifth year and play and what he expects out of this year’s team.

Share this:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

More Audio

Follow

andersonianAndersonian@andersonian·
4 Apr

The Black Bird Film Festival will be held on April 28, with the red carpet rolling out at 6:15 p.m. and the screening beginning at 7:00 p.m. Read more about the annual event: https://andersonian.com/2021/04/03/cinema-students-prepare-for-annual-black-bird-film-festival/

Reply on Twitter 1378527146084302849Retweet on Twitter 13785271460843028495Like on Twitter 137852714608430284910Twitter 1378527146084302849
andersonianAndersonian@andersonian·
1 Apr

Students in our #1 nursing program in Indiana helped administer nearly 400 COVID-19 vaccines today to AU students, faculty and staff!

4
Reply on Twitter 1377724570229149700Retweet on Twitter 13777245702291497004Like on Twitter 137772457022914970025Twitter 1377724570229149700
Retweet on TwitterAndersonian Retweeted
AURavenWatchRaven Watch@AURavenWatch·
30 Mar

The new Raven Watch is up now!

Ravens football takes back the Bronze Ball after nearly a decade, baseball splits Sunday’s doubleheader against Manchester, and the Rocket League team continues to progress in the Collegiate Star League Playoffs.

https://andersonian.com/2021/03/30/raven-watch-2021-03-30/

Reply on Twitter 1376960731422330880Retweet on Twitter 13769607314223308802Like on Twitter 13769607314223308809Twitter 1376960731422330880
Load More...

The Andersonian, the student newspaper of Anderson University, Anderson, Ind., publishes a print edition and maintains this website. As a matter of institutional policy, the University administration does not review or edit Andersonian content prior to publication. The student editors are responsible for both print and online content. While the administration recognizes the role of the student press on a college campus and in journalism education, the views expressed in the Andersonian are not necessarily those of Anderson University.

© Andersonian 2017, All rights reserved · Site by Mere
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.