People make Surf City safe

Surf City is one of the 10 safest large cities in the U.S. -- if you

believe in that sort of thing.

The FBI, which puts out the crime statistics used to figure out

the 10 safest cities, doesn’t buy into it. The Huntington Beach

Police say it really doesn’t mean anything, and city officials don’t

get excited about it.

But its still nice to know and it sure looks good on paper,

especially to potential tourists.

Surf City was knocked out of the top 10 last year when the FBI

released nationwide crime figures for cities with a population of

100,000 or more, but numbers released in May show Huntington Beach

back in the top ranks with the seventh-lowest crime rate despite a

slight jump in the number of crimes reported in 2003.

There were, however, three reported murders in the city last year.

That’s low for a large city of 100,000 people or more, but

“Pleasantville” its not.

What really matters, though, is: Do you feel safe walking through

your neighborhood? Will you walk your dog alone at night?

Feeling safe means knowing your neighbors. Huntington Beach Sgt.

Janet Perez is correct, it’s the people of Huntington Beach that make

it a safe city.

Perez credits the watchdogs in the community, who she said are

quick to call police when they suspect wrongdoing.

Police Chief Ken Small credits the many volunteers who contribute

about 40,000 hours of service to the department annually.

Both are certainly a big help in making this city safer. Yes,

residents make the city safer by calling the police if they see or

hear anything suspicious, but it is the population itself that

determines if a city is safe or not.

So it is indeed good to hear that Surf City is on that top 10

list. But then, Surf City, despite its population of nearly 200,000,

just doesn’t feel like a large city, and therefore feels rather safe.

Get to know your neighbors and take precautions such as locking up

valuables and locking your car and front door and Surf City can

certainly be one of the safest cities.