"While I'm pleased that we are ranked in the top 10, I caution people not to put too much credence in statistics," Welch said. "The borough invests a lot in safety from an enforcement perspective, but of course safety includes much broader aspects than just enforcement."
Helene Flohic (graduate-astronomy) said she wonders if next year's rankings will change because of the recent assaults.
"I've only been here for two years, but this year it seems more unsafe. It hasn't changed the way I act though," she said.
The crime categories used in the report include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft.
"There are seven crimes that make up the 'basic crime rate' which the FBI has tracked since the '30s," Morgan said.
He added that the report does not include the seventh, larceny and theft, because they believe there is too big of a discrepancy.
"It's admittedly a subjective determination as to which [crimes] we look at," Morgan said.
James Torres (junior-crime, law and justice) said he thinks Penn State does its part to contribute to State College's safe ranking.
"I used to work for [Penn State University Police], and I know they have increased the number of security people because of the assaults. Until it stops, I don't think that's going to change," he said.
Ted Delaney, Penn State University Police officer, said, "I consider this place a lot safer than other metropolitan areas. I don't think that we have a lot of problems that other big universities have."
The University Park campus is included in the State College metropolitan area, which consists of all of Centre County, Morgan said.
Welch also said the State College community is the heart of the metropolitan area, which accounts for about 140,000 people.
The areas designated as metropolitan ones in the survey, are predetermined by the federal government. Morgan said the Office of Management and Budget sets boundaries for the metropolitan statistical areas about every 10 years.
Asha John (senior-actuarial science) said she was a little surprised to hear that State College is considered a metropolitan area.
"I think of [the State College area] more as like the country. It's a lot more remote than where I am from," she said.
Bangor, Maine was ranked as the country's safest metropolitan area, and Pine Bluff, Ark., was the most dangerous. Sharon and Williamsport were the only two other Pennsylvania areas that were ranked in the top 25 of safest areas. No Pennsylvania areas were ranked among the 25 most dangerous areas.
The information was reported in Morgan Quitno's 10th Annual America's Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities and printed in its 10th edition of City Crime Rankings.
