TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A new survey reports the towns of Marana and Oro Valley are among the top ten safest places to live in Arizona. The report by Elite Personal Finance ranked thirty cities and towns in Arizona based on FBI statistics and crime scores.
Oro Valley is number one while Marana ranked seventh. Sergent Able Samano of the Marana Police Department said they are proud of their top ten spot, but are continuing to improve public safety as much as possible.
"A big part of this is the communication with the citizens and the town and the town itself," he said. "We've worked really closely with our other departments like parks and rec and the communication with the town is what keeps us at that spot."
For residents like Tom Stegman, Oro Valley neighborhoods provides everything that he and his family need. He said he feels comfortable knowing that his neighbors look out for each other.
“We always have people looking... stray dogs, they don’t stay stray for very long..”
"It's not just the views and the nature, but it's the people and it's a really safe place to live," he said. "We always have people looking out for each other, like stray dogs don't stay stray for long."
Rob Curcio of ZPizza, a local pizza restaurant, said even with his business being across the street from the police station, he sees how much the police patrol.
"It's a double edged sword," he said. "You have tighter restrictions but that's why people move here to Oro Valley."
Oro Valley Police Department Lieutenent John Teachout said a safe town starts with a healthy police force.
"We're making sure that we take care of the family within our four walls first because if we can’t take care of them, we can’t take care of the community,” he said.
In Marana, there are neighborhood watch programs that community members can join. And over in Oro Valley, Mayor Joe Winfield said they have a Citizens Academy for people to learn about public safety.
"We have a citizens academy with the police department," he said. "It's a 12 week course and it's a significant investment but individuals that participate in the academy walk away with a really in-depth understanding of the full services of our police department."
For those interested in applying for the Oro Valley Citizen Academy, the application can be found at orovalleyaz.gov.
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Tina Giuliano is a reporter for KGUN 9. She is a native Arizonan and grew up in Scottsdale. Tina is passionate about storytelling and is excited to work telling Tucson's stories. Share your story ideas and important issues with Tina by emailing tina.giuliano@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.