Which Coachella Valley city is one of California’s safest?
One valley city is featured in a new report as one of the safest cities in California, despite being home to one of the highest number of homicides in the valley last year.
According to online safety resource website SafeWise, Cathedral City was #41 on the list of most safe cities in California.
It's the only valley city to rank among the 50 most safe spots in the Golden State.
CLICK HERE to see the full Top 50 list.
"That means that you had some of the lowest crimes reported per 1,000 people in your town in the whole state. And California is a big state, and there's a lot of cities. So that's good news," said Rebecca Edwards, the lead safety reporter for SafeWise.
Edwards is an expert in crime data and tracks safety nationwide. She publishes the top 50 safest city lists for each state every year.
She said this list was calculated accounting for population differences. It uses 2020 data that police departments voluntarily report to the FBI.
Cathedral City spokesman Chris Parman said it's the second year in a row Cathedral City ranked on the list. He said a strong community partnership with law enforcement is to thank.
"If you live in Cathedral City, it's no surprise," Parman said. "Our police department really works to get to know the residents of Cathedral City."
KESQ's homicide count shows Cathedral City held the third highest number of people killed in the valley in 2021, only behind Palm Springs and Indio.
Edwards said given that data, it's striking to see the city on her list. "It is surprising. The number of homicides – that's something that is usually zero," she said.
She added murders are often outliers, though, and Parman pointed to the city's larger population size as a contributing factor.
"We're the second largest city in the valley," Parman said. "I think last year was an anomaly. Typically we have lower homicide rates than we did last year."
Homicides were lower in Cathedral City in 2020 – from 5 last year, to 3 the year before.
SafeWise's list was based on "the latest violent and property crime data from the FBI."
So far this year, the top-ranking city for safety hasn't reported any homicides.
