By Abbey Snow

A recent report released by SafeWise on Nov. 13 shows Mesquite ranking at No. 3 among their annual “5 Safest Cities in Nevada” report.    

SafeWise is a home security and safety brand committed to increasing safety education, awareness, and preparedness in American communities. They identified the “5 Safest Cities in Nevada” by reviewing the FBI crime report statistics and population data. They eliminate cities with fewer than 1,500 residents as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI. The report is then narrowed down 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. Then to finalize the report, they calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city.  

Mayor Allan Litman believes Mesquite remains a low crime city for a number of reasons.   

“Our police department is very proactive in careful patrolling of our communities and answering every call within minutes,” Litman said. “They are seen everywhere throughout the day and night.” 

Litman also added they maintain close communication with their nearby neighbors in Las Vegas and St. George and work together when a crime does occur. 

Mesquite Police Department Chief of Police Troy Tanner also accredits the local police as well as citizens patrol, and Mesquite citizens for keeping Mesquite a low-crime city.   

“The reason Mesquite PD has the highest crime solve rate has to do with our community policing,” Tanner said. “We put on more community programs than large departments, a lot of time goes into our effort, and it builds strong lines of communication between citizens and cops.”  

Tanner also mentioned that citizens patrol has made a fine addition to the police force. It greatly improves the number of eyes that are out there observing the everyday activities of the residents and visitors. Also, residents in the community watch out for one another and are quick to report activity which might be unlawful, Tanner said.  

“We invite community input, and it builds trust so that citizens and police feel like they are working together making a difference,” Tanner said. “ All of our community programs strengthen our partnership with our community and people not only support the police but are willing to report and communicate without hesitation.” 

Another effective way MPD combats crime is by having assigned areas for patrol in order to keep their response times down under eight minutes to arrive on calls, Tanner said.   

“Our officers really care about our community and they are proactive in looking for things that stand out,” Tanner said.  “Our sergeants do a great job on follow up and pass along to other shifts on what to look for.”  

Having a combination of effective police, citizen patrol, and residents working together to reduce crime is what Tanner believes has been the key in limiting criminal activity in Mesquite.  

“Of course, crime does happen in Mesquite,” Litman said. “But because of the professional police we have, the majority of crimes committed are solved quickly.  The criminals know this.” 

The full report can be viewed here: https://www.safewise.com/blog/safest-cities-nevada/