Read this excerpt from an issue of ICMA’s Infocus, Making Smart Choices about Fire and Emergency Medical Services in a Difficult Economy, which presents a balanced process for making data-driven decisions.

Group of 21 national associations has identified six priority issues for policy and strategic action.

Pinellas County, Florida, shared crime prevention insights with Panamanian officials in an exchange visit facilitated by ICMA.

Every community has buildings, streets, sidewalks, lights, and parks, but it is the social connectivity and relationships that make life worth living and that define a vibrant community.

Take some time this month to recognize the efforts of your law enforcement officials to prevent crime and to explore new initiatives.

Loudoun County, Virginia is a rapidly growing suburb near Washington, D.C. When the county needed assistance managing costs without compromising public safety, they turned to ICMA Center for Public Safety Management .

Town of Cary remains the safest place in the state to live, work, and raise a family, according to a study by CQ Press, publisher of the annual “City Crime Rankings 2009-2010”. Cary is the highest-ranked municipality in North Carolina and in the Southeastern US among the nation’s safest cities overall, a designation that the Town has held for 11 years in a row.

The City of Fort Worth Police Department, the Arlington Police Department and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s office have joined forces with the Safe City Commission’s Crime Stoppers to launch a new web-based crime-fighting tool. Residents can now submit a Crime Stopper tip through an anonymous live web chat.

<p>The City of Santa Monica, California Human Services Division (HSD) announced an 8% reduction in the city’s homeless population, based on its recent count of the city’s homeless. Using a new, rigorous methodology that involves physically counting homeless individuals in every census tract of the city, HSD is demonstrating the early success of Santa Monica’s Action Plan to Address Homelessness, and paving the way for accurate evaluation of progress in the future. The Count tallied 915 homeless individuals living within the City’s borders.<br>