It might seem odd to hear, in a year that included dramatic Congressional hearings about border cities under siege and hand wringing, both justified and overwrought, over border security, that the safest city in Arizona is the border town of San Luis.
Safewise, the online home safety company that ranked American cities, used data from 2021, the last full year of collected FBI crime reports turned in by cities on what is happening in their communities.
Although the data is a year-and-a-half old, and not a complete picture of crime in American cities, it still gives self-selected communities a chance to see how they stack up against their neighbors when it comes to keeping people safe.
So, it is a point of pride for San Luis Mayor Nieves Riedel to see the border town at the top of a safe cities ranking list.
But Riedel says all the politicians wringing their hands about crime and border security, they still have a point.
Riedel sits down with KAWC’s Victor Calderon for a wide-ranging and candid interview on life in the border town of San Luis, its future, and whether that includes a neighboring space port.
Joining the Mayor is interim San Luis Police Chief Miguel Alvarez, who talks about why crime might be skipping past San Luis but still landing in other communities to the north, and the need for more police officers to continue to keep San Luis safe.
