2009 report places city in second place among peer cities

MURPHY (September 15, 2010) The 2009 edition of the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report (UCR), a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of nearly 18,000 city, university, county, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies, has been released, and in the category of North Texas cities with populations between 10,000 and 100,000, the report finds that the City of Murphy has placed in the top two in terms of the lowest number of violent and property crimes, according to Murphy Chief of Police G.M. Cox.

“Our emphasis has been, and will continue to be, providing the highest level of customer service to the residents of Murphy. Each of our police officers has been carefully chosen to provide professional, proficient service and the results of the FBI report reflect that,” he said.

The report lists 35 cities in the North Texas area that fit the population category and among them, Murphy has the third lowest number of violent crimes. The city’s total of 10 violent crimes, as defined by the FBI’s program, compares extremely favorably with the list’s highest at 191.

On the property crimes side, Murphy attained the second lowest in the study at 153 for the year. That number is only 38 instances more than the lowest and more than 2,400 fewer than the highest.

“Our community is among the safest in the area for many reasons, not the least of which is the pride that people take in their city, as well as the many crime prevention programs we implement. Even so, the participation of the residents in reporting crime and the role they have in preventing crime cannot be overstated,” said the chief.

The Murphy Police Department has 21 sworn full-time police officers, including the chief, two reserve officers and eight staff members.

The FBI has administered the UCR Program since 1930 to assess and monitor the nature and type of crime in the U.S. The program’s primary objective is to generate reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management. In 2009, law enforcement agencies active in the UCR Program represented more than 295 million United States inhabitants—96.3 percent of the total population. The coverage amounted to 97.1 percent of the population in Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 90.9 percent of the population in cities outside metropolitan areas, and 93.0 percent of the population in nonmetropolitan counties.

Significantly, Murphy was recently designated as ninth best Dallas suburb by D Magazine in their biennial survey. The magazine’s editors cited the low crime rate as a major contributing factor in the city’s high ranking.

“We strive daily to gain the trust of the residents and the business community. The types of results cited in the FBI report demonstrate that it takes a cooperative partnership to create and preserve a safe community, and we’ll continue to do what’s necessary to maintain that attitude,” he concluded.