A comprehensive analysis of various crime metrics has elevated Newtown to the second safest community in all of Connecticut, and local Police Chief Viadero is praising Newtown's finest for helping make it — and hopefully keepng it — that way.

"As number two, there's always room for improvement," Viadero kidded during a recent chat with The Newtown Bee, "but seriously, this report shows how hard the men and women of the Newtown police force are working to keep everybody safe."

The latest safety report is published by SafeWise, an online resource that offers safety solutions, information, and recommendations for homes and communities.

Newtown, which has appeared in this survey previously, has seen its ranking for violent crime fluctuate from 0.2, to 0.4, to 0.1 over the last three years, while property crime rankings have markedly shrunk from 4.4, to 3.4, to 3.0 since 2018.

To compare on either side of Newtown's ranking, number one Ridgefield saw its violent crime trend from 0.0, to 0.0, to 0.1 - and its property crime fluctuate from 2.5, to 4.4, to 2.8 since 2018.

Third place Greenwich had violent crime run from 0.1, to 0.3, to 0.2 - and property crimes trend from 6.3, to 7.5, to 6.4.

From a broad perspective, SafeWise said all their top safest cities came in under the national property crime rate of 22, and 95 percent beat the state rate of 16.8. Ridgefield stayed on top for the second consecutive year, reporting 65 total crimes and just one violent crime.

Fifty-five percent of the cities improved their rank this year, with Danbury making the biggest leap from 33 in 2019 to 19 this year, despite the fact that the highest violent crime rate among the 2020 safest cities is Danbury, with 1.5 incidents per 1,000.

As far as violent crime is concerned, SafeWise data showed aggravated assault was the most common violent crime reported (4,294 incidents) in Connecticut, accounting for 58 percent of all violent crime.

More than one in ten communities statewide (11%) experienced violent crime in the past 12 months - almost double what was reported last year, but still below the national average of 12 percent.

Connecticut residents are more concerned about property crime than the national average, SafeWise says. Someone breaking in while the occupants are home is the biggest property crime concern, beating national levels of concern by eight percentage points.

Forty percent of residents named theft of digital property as the most likely property crime — four percentage points above the national average. And only 18 percent reported experiencing a property crime in the past year - below the national average of 26 percent, but double last year’s report of nine percent.

Only about one in four households expressing high concerns about break-ins report using a home security system, however, and 19 percent use security cameras. SafeWise says nearly 40 percent of all their 2020 survey respondents said they do not use any kind of security or protection on their property.

This was an issue that came up with Chief Viadero, who told The Newtown Bee that overall, Newtown residents who have some type of security system, especially one that emits a loud, audible warning, are well-served by those alarms.

"If someone breaks in and they hear an audible alarm, you may have a broken door, but they're not going to hang around very long, they're getting out of there with an alarm ringing" he said, adding that even having alarm signage clearly visible around property entrances can be a burglary deterrent.

"We know when someone is casing a neighborhood and they see an alarm sign, they'll probably move on to a property that doesn't have one," Viadero said.

Newtown's top cop, who previously served as Chief in Middlebury after a long career advancing through the ranks in Bridgeport, said now more than ever, good security can come relatively cheap.

"Seeing how inexpensive security systems are now, I think it's a prudent thing to have," he said. "It's peace of mind. Right now some of these systems don't even require a monitoring service. If somebody enters your house, you get a notification on your smart phone. And a lot of people have video with it."

He said with products like remote video doorbells can alert homeowners as soon as someone is on their property.

"If a guy pulls up, they're pretty savvy, so they're looking for cameras," Viadero said.

All in all, the local chief not only sees Newtown's top SafeWise ranking as validation his officers and staff are leaning into their duties, but as a means to promote local Real Estate and Economic Development as well.

"It shows we're doing something right," Viadero said. "As far as anyone wanting to buy a home or open a business in Newtown, having this designation can make the difference as to whether they choose to come here.

"It really speaks not only to our officers," he added, "but like the quality of our schools, this report speaks to the quality of the community as a whole."