Public Safety in Rice County, Kansas

Rice County
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What makes a community safe? Public safety is about whether people feel safe and whether the community has the conditions it needs to be safe for its residents. Public safety relates to community vitality, economy, education and health.


How many adults feel safe walking on their street after dark in Rice County, Kansas?

What this measures: The percentage of adults who feel safe walking on their street after dark.

Why this matters: Feeling safe is an important measure of community well-being. Many elements contribute to how safe people feel in their community. These include the public safety system, the built and natural environments, and community vitality.

What this relates to: Health, environment, community vitality.

Data source: Gallup. Percentages were calculated from raw survey data by LiveStories, based on the following survey question: 'Do you feel safe and secure?' (column ID: HWB23), where an answer of 'Agree' or 'Strongly Agree' was counted as 'feel safe.' Data is not shown for counties with fewer than 20 responses.


How many traffic-related fatalities are suffered each year by Rice County residents?

What this measures: How many people died during car crashes per 100,000. This can be people who died who were in the vehicle, pedestrians, bicyclists, and others. 

Why this matters: Infrastructure and safety-related behaviors contribute to this rate. Infrastructure includes road conditions, road design, and presence of protected bicycle lanes. Behaviors include seat belt use and intoxicated driving. 

What this relates to: Health, preventable death.

Data source: CDC Wonder, queried based on the following parameters: Underlying cause of death, ICD-10 codes: V02-V04, V09.0, V09.2, V12-V14, V19.0-V19.2, V19.4-V19.6, V20-V79, V80.3-V80.5, V81.0-V81.1, V82.0-V82.1, V83-V86, V87.0-V87.8, V88.0-V88.8, V89.0, V89.2.

Other Interesting Measures


• Number of homicide fatalities per 100,000 population. Source: DHHS, CDC, NCHS.

• Number of property crimes (i.e., burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson) per 100,000 population. Source: DOJ.

• Rate of child abuse reports or indications (in development). Source: State and local Departments of Child Services.

• Number of domestic assaults reported per 100,000 population. Source: DOJ, CDC.


• Deaths with underlying causes of drug-related poisonings (age-adjusted rate per 100,000). Source: CDC.


• Perceptions around police (in development). Source: To be developed.


• Number of first responders (i.e., paramedics, firefighters, police) per 1,000 residents. Source: To be developed.