LEWISTON — A study released on Thursday ranks Lewiston one of the worst cities in the nation for the quality of life of its police officers.
The study was released by security.org, a group that promotes home security systems, surveillance cameras and identity theft software, among other things.
In its report titled “Best & Worst Cities for Police,” the group lists Lewiston on the list of worst cities for police. There were 19 other cities with worse rankings. That finding, according to the report, was based on the most recent data from the FBI and U.S. Department of Labor. The rankings were revealed, according to the report, by analyzing income, police deaths, employment opportunity and cost of living in each of the 300 cities studied.
What’s not clear in the report is exactly how Lewiston ended up on the worst cities list. In a list of the U.S. cities with the lowest police officer employment numbers, Lewiston is in the No. 2 spot. It is not named at all in most of the other categories, including those pertaining to annual wage, in-service deaths, monthly rent or police officer killings.
Security.org did not respond to requests for further information about its findings.
According to the report, the percentage of people with a favorable view of the police has fallen by 7% since 2017 and stands near the levels seen just after the Rodney King verdict in 1992.
“Life as a police officer is routinely a thankless one, and it’s sometimes a very dangerous one,” according to the report. “Not only that, but officers are regularly used as political props for individuals on all sides of the ideological spectrum. For the police officers who got into law enforcement for the right reasons — protecting the public and serving the common good — these negative aspects can be taken in stride. But, as we’ve seen quite clearly, life for police officers is not exactly the same across the country, and a few cities seem much more attractive for the average cop.”
Pittsburgh was named as the best city for quality of life among police officers, followed by Birmingham, Alabama, and New York City.
Lewiston police did not offer comment on the security.org study.
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