Wayland Named 'Safest Town in Massachusetts' for Second Year in a Row

WAYLAND, MA - It’s another good year to live in Wayland.

SafeWise has once again named Wayland the safest town in the Commonwealth on its 2016 list of the 20 safest towns in Massachusetts. Wayland topped the list in 2015 as well.

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“This demonstrates the commitment of the public safety personnel employed in town and the excellent working relationship that exists between the police and fire departments and the community we serve,” Wayland Police Chief Robert Irving said in a statement.

SafeWise, a community-focused security organization committed to increasing safety education, awareness, and preparedness, reviewed 2014 FBI Crime Report statistics, the most recent available, and population data to rank the municipalities. Cities with fewer than 8,000 residents and those that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI were eliminated.

After that, SafeWise narrowed down its list based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) in each city and calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city. (View the full methodology)

“[Wayland] is a modern-day melting pot that represents the best of America’s values: the community’s philanthropic spirit actively fosters volunteerism and civic responsibility,” according to a press release. “Wayland lives up to its ideals with a safety record boasting fewer than 20 total reported crimes, an impressive number for a city of more than 13,000 residents.”