A town remains safe when its police force is a part of the community, not apart from the community.
State College Police Lt. Chris Fishel said he credits this common police motto to the borough's recent second-place ranking in a list of the nation's safest towns.
The CQ Press' 2008 edition of its "City Crime Rankings" was released last week and placed State College as the second safest metropolitan area in the nation, directly behind No. 1 Logan, Utah.
"It's consistently a safe place to live," Fishel said about State College.
The organization that compiled the list is a publisher of political and policy information. The ranking pulled data from FBI statistics and looked at murders, rapes, robberies, assaults and thefts in an area, among other things.
Fishel said the cohesion within the State College community was evident in the aftermath of the October Ohio State riots.
"There is no real ownership for something like that," he said. "It gives the community a bad name as well as the university. But citizens feel compelled to hold those people responsible."
So far, police have charged 21 people in connection with the riot with help from the public. Photographs of suspects were posted on statecollege.pa.us, and citizens were asked to call police with information.
Penn State Police Capt. Bill Moerschbacher said the most pervasive problem on campus is alcohol and drug-related crimes that result in physical altercations and other incidents.
However, the campus doesn't see many violent crimes, Moerschbacher said.
There were 56 instances of DUI, 168 of disorderly conduct and 111 of public drunkenness on campus in 2007, according to Penn State's annual crime report, "Policies, Safety, & U." The report also indicates three rape offenses, three strong-arm robbery offenses and four assaults last year.
State College Mayor Bill Welch said this ranking reflects positively on the borough, something that is not always the case with State College's rankings.
"That's the kind of list you want to be on," Welch said. "I'd rather be two on this list than the No. 2 party school."
State College has another reason to be proud of its high ranking, Welch said. About two-thirds of the population is composed of Penn State students who are in their "prime crime years," he said.
"The demographic tips toward the possibility of crime," he said. "But I think we are fortunate in that the crime we have tends to be lower level for the most part."
Fishel said that along with community receptiveness to police, a strong "information flow" between adjacent police departments is a factor in the area's safety.
Moerschbacher echoed that statement, saying many of the officers are friends.
"We realize, that given the nature of the community here, that we have to work together," Moerschbacher said. "It's not uncommon at all to have a person commit a crime in two or three jurisdictions in the same incident."
This camaraderie, Fishel said, directly leads to the borough's consistent ranking as on of the top 10 safest areas in the nation.
"It's the spirit of the team," Fishel said. "It helps to know that you are doing well and that it does remain safe."
