Long Island’s Nassau County was listed as the safest in America this week — in rankings that found the New York metropolitan area had 10 of the nation’s top 25 safest counties.
County Executive Bruce Blakeman hailed Nassau’s victory in the US News & World Report study as a credit to the area’s law-and-order values.
“Our ranking as the safest county in the country is a tribute to our police officers, district attorney, and other law enforcement professionals who put their lives on the line each and every day to protect the residents of Nassau County,” he told The Post on Thursday.
The list scored counties on a 100-point scale that’s tied to their performance in key safety areas that went beyond crime rates, including health care and public safety capacity, the magazine said.
It also takes into account things like emergency services and crash fatality rates.
For instance, rather than Nassau’s crime rate, the news outlet specifically cited the county’s per-capita spending on health care and emergency services as the area it performs best in.
The northeast — specifically New Jersey and New York — fared extraordinarily well, with half of the top 10 counties hailing from the region, including upstate Rockland in third.
That county’s executive, Ed Day, was similarly “very proud” of his people — but not surprised.
“I may be steering the ship, but we have tremendous staff,” Day said, specifically citing county Sheriff Lou Falco. “To my brothers and sisters in blue: Thank you.”
The list even had some relative surprises, with Queens coming in as the 20th safest county in the US and Brooklyn the 25th. There are slightly over 3,000 counties in the US.
After Nassau and Rockland on the list, Westchester County earned a sixth-place finish, Putnam County took eighth, New Jersey’s Bergen County took ninth, Staten Island was ranked 17th, Queens County was listed at 20th, Suffolk County was named 22nd, Morris County, also in New Jersey, made 23rd and Brooklyn rounded out the list at 25.
Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said in a statement that he was “incredibly proud” that New Jersey’s most populous county made the list.
“This distinction is thanks to the hard work and dedication of our Sheriff’s Office, Prosecutor’s Office, Bergen County EMS, local first responders, community partners, and social service providers,” the Democratic county leader said.
“Here, we are committed to offering our residents the highest quality of life possible. By investing in our communities and our emergency response infrastructure, the County of Bergen will continue to be the greatest place in the nation to live, work, and raise a family.”