Village of Orland Park Named Safest City in Illinois

Orland Park, IL (February 4, 2021) – Orland Park was named the Safest City in Illinois for 2021 by Safety.com, a leading home security and safety advocacy website. This is the first time in the Village’s history to receive this distinction. Analysts from Safety.com assessed data provided by the FBI Crime Report, Gun Violence Archive, U.S. Census Bureau, Insurance Journal and America Health Rankings to create its list of safest cities in Illinois.

“We are proud to hear of the latest recognition bestowed upon the Village by Safety.com,” said Mayor Keith Pekau. “I am not surprised by the announcement as we already know that Orland Park provides the utmost level of safety and security to residents and businesses as well as providing assistance to neighboring suburbs.”

“Our Police Department does a phenomenal job of keeping us safe,” said Pekau. “We have proactively implemented several programs over the last few years to ensure that our businesses, residents, and guests are kept safe.  Additionally, our Police Department’s performance during the riots and looting that occurred regionally and nationwide was exemplary,” explained Pekau.

Cities were analyzed on public safety, financial safety, state-level natural disaster and health metrics.

  “The men and women of the Orland Park Police Department are hardworking and dedicated to the safety of Orland Park,” said former Chief of Police Tim McCarthy who led the department for the past 26 years until his retirement in August, 2020.”

“This new recognition only confirms what I have always known, Orland Park was and continues to be a safe and secure place in which to live, work and play.”

“Thank you to Safety.com for recognizing Orland Park,” said Police Chief Joe Mitchell. “In 2019, the index crimes in the Village were the lowest they have been in 25 years. In 2020, they dropped another 29%.”

“We have the lowest number of violent crimes per capita for towns with over 50,000 residents in Illinois,” said Mitchell. “Property crimes dropped substantially from 2019 to 2020 and are less than half of what they were in 2016.”

The criteria for public safety include: property crime, violent crime, aggravated assaults, hate crime and mass shootings. Criteria for financial and socioeconomic factors include: unemployment rate, cost of living, poverty rate, uninsured residents and internet access.

“Our team diligently identified the safest cities beyond just looking at crime rates. We wanted to get the full picture and have our data extend beyond what people would originally look at for the safety of a city, especially in these tough economic times. We took a step further by looking at factors that measure socioeconomic, health and natural disaster safety in addition to public safety in this study.” says Antonio Lopez Jr, analyst for Safety.com

State-level natural disaster and health safety scoring factors involve calculating the state’s natural disaster risk and health score based on access to health insurance, air pollution ratings, number of drug deaths and number of mental health providers.

The full report and methodology can be found here:

https://www.safety.com/public/places/safest-cities-in-illinois/

Safety.com’s experience providing detailed information, recommendations and insights on multiple safety industries puts the site in a unique position to create this comprehensive safest cities data report.

About Safety.com - Safety.com offers reviews, recommendations and insights across multiple safety industries. Their goal is to make safety simple with trustworthy and accurate information, unique data and easy-to-use tools. They want to empower people to feel peace of mind about their personal, home, financial and family safety.