That was the reaction of Cary Police Chief Pat Bazemore to the FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report for 2007. The report was released last week.

“We continue to be the safest community in North Carolina regardless of our size,” Bazemore said. “We share that with our citizens. … It’s always nice to know you’re living in a safe community.”

The data indicate that violent crime for 2007 was virtually unchanged from 2006 and that property crime dropped both in gross numbers and in rate over the same period.

Cary reported 134 violent crimes for 2007 after having 131 the year before.

Violent crimes tracked by the FBI include murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. According to the FBI numbers, Cary had one murder in 2007 and none in 2006. The only other violent-crime category that showed an increase was robbery, which rose from 42 in 2006 to 58 in 2007.

Property crimes totalled 2,120 in 2007, a drop of 69 from the previous year.

Property crimes include burglary, larceny and theft, motor-vehicle theft and arson.

Overall crime in the town dropped 3 percent for the year, Bazemore said.

The numbers from the FBI are preliminary and slightly different from data released earlier this month by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation.

Despite the drop, Bazemore remained wary.

“Compared to other cities our size our crime rate is low,” Bazemore said. “But regardless of how low the numbers are, every crime has a victim.”

Bazemore said the department’s focus is on preventing crime. “But once a crime has occurred then we put our focus on trying to solve it as quickly as possible,” she said.

The major categories of property crime for Cary are burglaries and larcenies, particularly larcenies from motor vehicles. The town experienced a 19 percent drop in burglaries, from 554 to 448. Larcenies rose just more than 4 percent from 1,520 to 1,584.

The keys to preventing these crimes, Bazemore said, is to lock doors and windows at home and roll up windows and lock doors in the car.

“The more the community does to keep themselves from being a victim, it helps us to keep the community safer,” Bazemore said. “We are very fortunate to be in a community that is supportive of the police and their efforts.”

Bazemore also recommended that even if drivers secure their cars, they should also hide or take with them valuables such as iPods, global-positioning system units or computers.

“Those are just invitations,” Bazemore said. “If they will take 30 seconds longer [to ensure] that their homes and vehicles are secure and that their belongings are secure, it will take a criminal that much longer to commit the crime and they may go on to another target.”