Emporia has been named as one of the safest college towns in America.
Safewise, an online safety resource, puts Emporia 46th overall on its 2018 list and 12th out of cities in the Midwest. Emporia State spokesperson Gwen Larson credited partnerships involving Emporia State and local law enforcement, as well as the atmosphere in town, for creating a welcoming attitude on and off campus.
Safewise looked at cities with at least 15,000 residents that have an accredited college offering four-year degrees. Technical colleges were excluded, but Flint Hills Technical College President Dean Hollenbeck says it’s a big deal for tech college students along with university students.
Safewise looked at the most recent FBI crime report for each city that met its criteria. Rankings were based on violent crime per capita, although property crimes were also listed online. Emporia had 1.42 incidents of violent crime per 1,000 people and 23.37 incidents of property crime in its report. Emporia was the only Kansas town to make the Safewise top 50.
