By Julie Pike, Editor-in-chief
In a list of the 50 safest college towns in America published by Safewise, Gorham got the 16th spot. They looked into the FBI’s 2016 crime data to see what towns had the best safety records.
Gorham was chosen partly for its low crime rate, but also for acts of kindness shown by its residence, citing the story of an injured dog from Georgia who was saved by a woman from Gorham, who just happened to be in the area on a business trip. She spent hundreds of dollars to get the dog the medical attention he needed, and to transport him back to her house in Gorham.
There were only 12 violent crimes reported in Gorham in 2016, out of a population of over 17,000. The Safewise findings focused on crimes per 1,000 people in each city or town, with Gorham receiving a score of 0.69.
First place on the list was given to Brookline, MA, a Boston suburb that houses multiple colleges, with a violent crime rate of 0.24 per 1,000 people.
As the town which houses USM’s residential dorms, it’s important that safety is of the highest ratings.