Safe Town, USA

I had one of those heart-stopping moments at exactly 4 o’clock in the morning. The Wrangell police department called. The door to the Sentinel office was unlocked. They had tried to call my co-worker, Kris, but no answer. Did I want to come down to check it out?

I was a bit freaked out because I had been the only one at work yesterday. I had opened and closed the office. I imagined the cash register being empty, computers gone. I ran down to the Sentinel and met officer Groshong (who is more familiar to me for sitting on the school board than donning handcuffs and a gun). The office was perfectly fine – no money missing, nothing seemed astray. I called Kris from the office and she said she had gone to the office after I had left and must have forgotten to lock the door. Phew. I was back home by 4:15 a.m.

Apparently, early in the morning every day, the Wrangell police walk through town and check every door of every business to make sure it’s locked. What’s funny is that even as I was freaking out, I knew that I really had nothing to worry about. Wrangell is the safest place I have ever lived (well, minus the murder that took place in February) and while there may be the occasional bar fight, people here pride themselves on not locking their house or car doors, and letting their dogs and children roam the streets unattended. When I'm getting my groceries delivered and I know I won't be home when they arrive, I know the delivery boy will just leave them inside my apartment – even put the frozen stuff in the freezer for me – and I have absolutely no reason to think anything suspicious will take place. When my purse went missing for a weekend and was finally located, every single dollar, cent, credit card was still there. People trust people. I have learned to trust people.

With our trailer parks and empty storefronts, Wrangell may not be the most reputable place, but it’s definitely the most safe.