Belvedere is California's Safest City

With no violent crime since 2007 -- when one person reported an assault -- Belvedere is California's safest city

The bayside city of Belvedere -- the almost-entirely residential enclave across the bay from Sausalito with one of the highest per-capita income rates in the United States -- has eight police officers, but Belvedere's finest are also historians.

That's because they have to go back years -- four years, to 2007 -- to remember the city's last example of a violent crime (it was an assault, according to the Marin Independent Journal).

This shows why Belvedere was named by the FBI the safest city in California based on crime stats, according to the newspaper. And indeed, with no violent crimes reported in 2010 -- the only city in the state with a population of over 2,000 to report no crimes -- Belvedere could be one of the safest places in the country.

The quiet crime scene means that Belvedere's police chief is easily accessible by the well-heeled citizenry and that the city's eight cops perform police work that might raise eyebrows in other departments. Police are involved with neighborly disputes over tree-trimming, helping elderly people move furniture, and enforce parking rules.

There's also the 25 property crimes reported each year, from theft, burglary and other non-violent offenses.

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