Policing Mad River: who reports, and what
Rio Dell, 33 miles away, is the nearest town with a Safety Grade (C). Mad River has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Trinity County. The Trinity County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Mad River alone, and no Safety Grade.
What stands out about safety in Mad River
Policed by the county
Mad River is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Mad River. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest California towns with their own police figures are Rio Dell (C, 33 mi), Fortuna (B−, 36 mi), Ferndale (B−, 42 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Mad River. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Trinity County without police of their own, which include Mad River.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest California towns with a Safety Grade
Straight-line distance from the center of Mad River. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Mad River.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Two people died in crashes on Mad River’s roads in 2019–2023
Mad River had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
That is about what is typical for California towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (7.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Mad River’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Mad River’s own rate (147.1) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Mad River and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Mad River
Is Mad River, CA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Mad River. The nearest California towns with a grade are Rio Dell (C, 33 mi), Fortuna (B−, 36 mi), Ferndale (B−, 42 mi).
Who polices Mad River?
The Trinity County Sheriff’s Office. Mad River is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Trinity County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Mad River.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.