News : One of Iowa's 5 safest small towns: Research company cites low crime stats in Vinton

Police visibility through the new K-9 program, bike patrols and participation in community events help make Vinton safer, says Police Chief Ted Paxton. Consumer research company ValuePenguin have just published a study which found that Vinton is among the 5 Safest Small Towns in Iowa. The ranking was based on a variety of crime metrics from the FBI across 74 Iowa cities & towns. "Every day our officers focus on crime prevention, whether it comes in the form of making traffic stops and issuing citations or warnings, responding and handling calls for service, checking businesses at night, attending public events, assisting the City with blighted properties, and just being visible in the community as much as possible," says Police Chief Ted Paxton. "The Vinton Police Department has been very proactive in our efforts and will continue to keep our City safe." Among programs designed to increase police visibility are Bike Patrol during the summer and most recently, the VPD's K-9 program which has been very effective since it was deployed earlier this month, says the Chief. "The ranking is nice for the City of Vinton and our department but the Vinton Police Department will continue to work harder than ever and will keep looking for new ways and ideas to keep our City safe," Paxton says. "A special thanks to my staff of professionals and the community we serve as we work together to keep our City safe." Vinton was ranked 5th for Small Towns with the population between 5,000 to 8,000 and ranked 9th overall in Iowa. See that complete study HERE.