Kings Point, Sands Point on safest place ranking

The villages of Kings Point and Sands Point were recently ranked among the 20 safest communities in New York State by an online resource center for home security company reviews.
Alarm System Reviews, which was founded in 2006, ranked Kings Point as the 10th safest community in New York and ranked Sands Point as the 20th safest.
“The safety and well-being of those who reside in the Village of Kings Point is a top priority of the Board of Trustees,” Mayor Michael Kalnick said. “We take many steps to ensure the protection of our residents and their properties.”
Alarm System Reviews’ research team reviews and compiles data from multiple sources, including the FBI Uniform Crime Report, for communities in the state, it said. It limits its research to cities, towns and other municipalities with at least 2,500 residents.
The research team totals the number of violent and property crimes, Alarm System Reviews said, and calculates that total against the reported population to assign an overall crime rate per 1,000 residents.
Kings Point, which has a population of 5,065 residents, had a 0 percent violent crime rate per 1,000 residents and a 2 percent property crime rate per 1,000 residents.
Kalnick said the village’s police force plays a big role in the low  crime rate in Kings Point.
“Residents benefit from around-the-clock protection of a well-trained village Police Department with an average response time of less than two minutes, as well as 24-hour surveillance cameras, recently installed at gateways to and from the village,” he said.
Kings Point police officers earn the highest average salary of any municipal department in the state.
According to a report released by the Empire Center for Public Policy, which used a payroll database of both part-time and full-time employees actively enrolled in the state pension system as of August 2016, Kings Point’s 21 police officers received an average salary of $222,394.
Kings Point is one of four villages in Great Neck to have its own police force. Great Neck Estates, Kensington and Lake Success are the others.
“We are not surprised that Kings Point has been recognized as one of the safest places to live in New York State or the country, for that matter,” Kalnick said.
Sands Point, which has a population of 2,727, had a 0 percent violent crime rate per 1,000 residents and a 3.3 percent property crime rate per 1,000 residents.
“Chief [Richard] Lertora informed me about the safest places list and, needless to say, I am very pleased, but not surprised,” Sands Point Mayor Edward Adler said. “We strive to make sure that our Sands Point Police force is second to none, and that’s reflected in more than crime statistics.”
Sands Point police officers were the fourth-highest-paid officers of any village in the state.
According to the Empire Center report, a total of 20 Sands Point police officers made an average of $166,850 as of August 2016.
“The vigilance of our force deters crime, but the responsiveness and training of our officers have saved lives in medical emergencies as well,” Adler said, saying he was very proud of the department.
Alarm System Reviews ranked Stockport, a town in Columbia County, as the safest place to live in the state.
Stockport, which has a population of 2,744, had a 0 percent violent crime rate per 1,000 residents and 0.4 percent property crime rate per 1,000 residents.