Gilbert ranks as country's second-safest large city
Independent Newsmedia/Tom Blodgett
The FBI's most recent crime report puts Gilbert as the second safest municipality among the nation's 100 largest cities.
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It's a constant evolving cycle as crime comes up and down, both locally and nationally, And so we've got to do everything we can to make sure we're on top of everything.”
Gilbert is America’s second safest municipality among the country’s 100 most populous cities, according to rankings from the FBI’s National-Incident Based Reporting System for 2022.
Gilbert had 11.3343 crimes per 1,000 people, with a population of 277,123, trailing only Port St. Lucie, Florida, nationally. It was the only Valley city in the top 10.
However, all of the Valley’s cities among the 100 with the highest populations were in the top half. That included:
No. 13 Chandler, 19.8989 crimes per 1,000 people, population 281,373;
No. 17 Mesa, 21.9716 per 1,000, population 513,116;
No. 45 Phoenix, 37.2702 per 1,000, population 1,637,902;
No. 47 Glendale, 37.8494 per 1,000, population 250,466.
Scottsdale did not participate.
For Gilbert, the ranking represented a jump of two spots from No. 4 in 2021. While Police Chief Michael Soelberg greeted that news, he remained circumspect about its meaning.
“It's a constant evolving cycle as crime comes up and down, both locally and nationally,” he said. “And so we've got to do everything we can to make sure we're on top of everything.”
Soelberg said a drop in the town’s property crimes, which are far more common than violent crimes in Gilbert, are the driving force in the improvement.
Gilbert’s property crimes per 1,000 people are 10.1688, also ranking second.
Michael Soelberg, Gilbert Police Chief
Courtesy Town of Gilbert
But in a presentation to Gilbert Town Council and executive staff at a workshop Dec. 11, he noted violent crime in town has been trending upward for the past several years. While not exactly out a wave — Gilbert still ranks fourth lowest in violent crimes at 1.1655 per 1,000 people — the town had two unrelated homicides on Father’s Day and a domestic violence homicide last week.
Add in the recent nearby homicide of Queen Creek teenager Preston Lord, and some in the community may be on edge, which Soelberg acknowledged.
“We are concerned that violent crime is moving up, and so we've got to make sure we're still addressing those needs,” he said.
But for perspective, even a small change in violent crimes can look like a large increase when there are so few to begin with.
Soelberg used homicides as an example: Gilbert has had six in 2023, as opposed to two in 2022, an increase of 200%.
“Six might be just a night in Phoenix as opposed to six for a year in Gilbert,” he said. “So we have to keep it in perspective when we look at our total part one crimes on the violent side.”
Phoenix had 217 murders in 2022, about four per week — the same number Gilbert has increased for the year to date.
Soelberg said he tracks the per-capita numbers more.
“That's the number I focus on, making sure that our per-capita rates, both property and violent, are going down,” he said. “And that's where even though the crime rate may be going up, the per capita is going down and so it's all on how you look at the numbers.”
He added the department is happy about the news but will not relax.
“Any victim is not what we want,” Soelberg said. “Eliminate it. I'd love to put myself out of a job. It probably won't ever happen, but the lower crime is something to celebrate.”
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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