Newtown's Police Chief James Viadero and Police Commission Chairman Joel Faxon both praised their department's officers, detectives, and staff after learning the National Council for Home Safety and Security announced that Newtown was ranked the third safest community in the state.The Newtown Bee.Visit here for more information.

The council's 2018 rankings were released by the safety and security trade association on February 5.

The National Council for Home Safety and Security is a trade association comprising home security professionals across the United States. The council advocates for safe communities and home safety with a strong focus on community involvement.

Chief Viadero said he was "extremely pleased" to hear about the distinction.

"I attribute our continued success to the diligent activities of our officers and their continued commitment to make Newtown a safe community," he told 

Chief Viadero specifically cited the expedient closure of some serious cases involving burglaries and auto theft, and making quick apprehensions of those individuals, curtailed further incidents.

He also noted a continuing spirit of cooperation between his staff and members of the public for the achievement, saying, "Our agency is engaged with the community and this partnership goes a long way in eliciting cooperation and success in keeping Newtown safe."

Commissioner Faxon observed that "The high safety ranking is not surprising given the dedication and professionalism of the members of our department."

Mr Faxon credited Chief Viadero for "a leadership style that really brings out the best in our officers."

"The closure and prosecution rate on the few serious crimes we experience in town is very high," the commission chairman added. "Criminals do not fare well in Newtown and hopefully these results encourage them to find more productive things to do with their time."

The top ten cities for 2018 according to the National Council for Home Safety and Security are:

1. Weston

2. Ridgefield

3. Newtown

4. Wilton

5. Monroe

6. Madison

7. Plainfield

8. New Canaan

9. Greenwich

10. Suffield

To identify the safest cities, the association reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics along with its own population data and internal research, eliminating any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI and removed cities with populations under 10,000.

Communities were ranked based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) per 1,000 people. These variables were then weighted, with violent crimes assigned a value 1.5 times (due to their severity) that of property crimes.