SOLEDAD — The City of Soledad has been named the 31st safest city in California, according to SafeWise.
The ranking was released June 5, with the City of Soledad dropping seven places below its 2016 ranking as No. 24. According to SafeWise, Soledad has 2.11 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 12 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
During the June 7 council meeting, council member Carla Stewart praised the police department, Soledad residents and the community groups that helped to keep Soledad as one of the safest cities in California.
SafeWise used the 2015 FBI crime report statistics and population data to determine the 50 safest cities in California and eliminated all cities with fewer than 10,000 residents and cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI. Then, it narrowed down the list based on the number of reported violent crimes, such as aggravated assault, murder, rape and robbery, along with property crimes like burglary, arson and motor vehicle theft.
“We were impressed to find that all but 11 of the cities on this year’s list also appeared on our list last year, which indicates these cities are committed to long-term crime prevention,” said SafeWise representative Alexia Chiantis.
The City of Soledad was the only city in south Monterey County to rank in the top 50. Hollister, Morgan Hill, Pacific Grove and King City made the top 100.
