Floral Park a ‘Safe City’ winner
Everyone knows that Floral Park is a great place to live and raise children. The top-ranked public school district has plenty to do with that. Even more important is safety. Not only is Floral Park, according to a study by SafeWise, a nationally-known securities firm, the safest town in Nassau County, it is the 17th safest municipality in the entire country.
The ranking is not only impressive, it also represents an improvement from last year’s study, where Floral Park was ranked as the 50th safest town. A number one ranking looks to be in Floral Park’s bright future.
In hailing Floral Park for its exclusive ranking, SafeWise noted: “This town got its rosy name from the 200 acres of land that were once used to grow flowers commercially until the late 20th century. Today, Floral Park has blossomed into a place where young kids can learn about Internet safety. Using the nationwide “I-Safe Program,” children of the community are taught about how to use the Internet responsibly. Because so many children are on the web every day for school and play, it’s incredibly important to teach them how to do so safely.”
Which is turning out to be the case. Floral Park’s success has a great deal to do with old-fashioned law enforcement. Stephen G. McAllister, the village’s police commissioner, points out that up to two-thirds of his members live in the village. And so, the majority of his officers are raising their own families in the village and many are natives of Floral Park. That matters as law enforcement, as McAllister notes, becomes an intense matter of pride for the force and that includes maintaining a high national ranking.
“[We have] a good collaboration between the community and the police department,” McAllister told The Illustrated News. “They alert us to potential problems and we can deliver a quick response. Everyone here knows everybody. We have a tight-knit community. We also have a great working relationship with the schools. We are in high demand in all of the schools, giving lectures on Internet safety.”
While Floral Park rose from 50th to 17th, the city of Glen Cove, located north of Floral Park, had their own impressive improvement. Glen Cove was ranked as the 21st safest city in the nation, rising from 76th in the last survey.
“Supporting the model, “S.A.F.E.” (Substance Abuse Free Environment), Glen Cove works with other not-for-profit organizations, governments, and nearby businesses to raise awareness about substance abuse,” the report stated. “By tackling this issue, the town aims to make roads a safer place and its citizens healthier people.”
The rankings are determined by SafeWise’s security professionals, who analyze FBI crime statistics from all 50 states to find which communities are the most secure. Those results are combined with the firm’s own research on each city’s public safety, public health and educational offerings to make up the list.
Not only did Floral Park and Glen Cove score well, but the coveted title of safest city in America went to Lewisboro Town, a village 50 miles north of New York City. Rye, a village in Westchester County, was two notches down from Floral Park, at number 19.
The SafeWise model is thoroughly credible, as the Salt Lake City-based firm has spent 140 years in the security industry, offering home security monitoring in various guises to private and public residences.
