by Jared Taylor
Gilbert Town Council Member
Last year the Town of Gilbert was ranked as the second safest city in America. Great news! This ranking came from a review of violent crime data in the US. While the press focused largely on the influence of public safety, let’s take a moment to recognize the real reason for this ranking: strong families and a thriving faith and service community.
Oftentimes I will use a sports analogy for Team Gilbert and refer to our families, service groups, churches, and schools as our offense.
These groups score the real points in our Golden Rule Town. By instilling both a love of America and strong moral values into our community, strong families are the Most Valuable Player in Gilbert.
Of course a great team can’t be successful without a good defense. In a community, a strong defensive team consists of solid public safety and judicial systems.
In 1995, Dr. Patrick F. Fagan of the Heritage Foundation summarized the following conclusions from professional literature on violent crime and the family in his article titled The Real Root Causes of Violent Crime: The Breakdown of Marriage, Family, and Community.
- Over the past thirty years, the rise in violent crime parallels the rise in families abandoned by fathers.
- High-crime neighborhoods are characterized by high concentrations of families abandoned by fathers.
- The future criminal tends to be an individual rejected by other children as early as the first grade who goes on to form his own group of friends, often the future delinquent gang.
- On the other hand:
- Neighborhoods with a high degree of religious practice are not high-crime neighborhoods.
- Even in high-crime inner-city neighborhoods, well over 90 percent of children from safe, stable homes do not become delinquents. By contrast only 10 percent of children from unsafe, unstable homes in these neighborhoods avoid crime.
- Criminals capable of sustaining marriage gradually move away from a life of crime after they get married.
- The mother’s strong affectionate attachment to her child is the child’s best buffer against a life of crime.
Families have been moving to Gilbert in droves for the last twenty years. Ours is a family-friendly Town. We love America and live by the Golden Rule. Gilbert also has a thriving faith community. In 2013 a real estate blog ranked Gilbert as the 2nd Saintliest City in America.
Of course, Gilbert is also home to many wonderful single individuals who serve our community in countless ways. Without a doubt, we are seeing the positive effects of the family, faith, and friendship.
So congratulations to Gilbert families and churches and service organizations! You have scored a major victory. Let’s continue to make Gilbert the best place to live, work, and play.
Learn more on the importance of families in America from President Ronald Reagan. See below for a 3-minute clip from his farewell address.