A national study has ranked Laredo as the sixth-safest large city in the United States, a distinction that local leaders say is the product of years of deliberate investment rather than coincidence. The personal finance website SmartAsset evaluated 83 cities with populations of at least 250,000, scoring them on violent crime rates, property crime rates, motor vehicle fatalities and FEMA disaster risk. Laredo finished behind only Virginia Beach, Plano, Madison, Honolulu and Chesapeake, making it the second-safest big city in Texas behind Plano. The study reported 3.7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents — the 15th-lowest among the cities analyzed — and 14.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents, the fourth-lowest nationwide.
Mayor Dr. Victor Trevino said the recognition reflects sustained commitments to public safety infrastructure, personnel and interagency partnerships that have made security the foundation for economic growth and Laredo’s role as the nation’s busiest inland port. He pointed to this week’s announcement of $4 million in federal Operation Stonegarden funding, secured alongside U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, which will support officer overtime, technology upgrades and equipment for joint border security operations across Webb County. Police Chief Miguel Rodriguez echoed that assessment while emphasizing his department’s prevention-first strategy, which relies on expanded license plate reader networks, gunfire detection systems, drone deployments and real-time crime analytics designed to identify criminal activity before it escalates.
Despite those investments, Rodriguez cautioned that the ranking does not reflect the operational strain of managing one of the world’s busiest international border crossings with a sworn force that has not kept pace with population growth or call volume. The department recently projected losing roughly 18 officers to retirements and departures but drew 365 applicants to its latest entrance exam as part of expanded recruiting efforts. Rodriguez also pushed back against long-standing assumptions about border communities, noting that violent crime numbers have remained consistently low for years despite perceptions linking border proximity to danger. Beyond policing tactics and partnerships, he credited what he called an often overlooked factor — Laredo’s tight-knit culture where multiple generations still live blocks apart and neighbors know each other by name. Both Trevino and Rodriguez described the recognition not as a finish line but as validation of an approach they intend to keep building on.
