Report: Brookings is America’s Safest College Town

If your son or daughter is attending classes this fall at SDSU in Brookings, not only are they attending a great university, they are also going to school in America's safest college town.

A safety organization called SafeWise has just released its list of the top 50 safest college communities in America, high atop that list at the number one position, is non other than Brookings, SD.

The list is ranked by comparing college town FBI crime statistics with the city’s population. Community and law enforcement relations is cited as the main reason Brookings came out number one.

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It's actually not  the first time the city of Brookings has come away with the top spot says Brookings Police Chief Jeff Miller. According to Miller, he attributes a lot of the success they have in keeping the city safe to the partnerships the Brooking Police Department has developed within the community.

The population base of Brookings is nearly 23,000 people, SDSU adds another 12,500. The Brookings Police Department relies on SDSU campus security to help them keep the city safe.

Don Challis, Assistant VP for Safety and Security at SDSU says, "We think it's a pretty safe place, and now we have some validation that that's true."

According to Challis, "We do a lot of work on communication so we can communicate with them, and back to us. We want to be something more than just those people that show up when something is going on.”

SDSU is all about using technology to help keep its students safe. Next week a new app called “Guardian Jackrabbit” will be released to students that allows them to communicate with campus police on their mobile devices.

The new app is just part of the improvements campus security is using to help ensure the safety of students.

Source: KDLT TV