Photo: DVIDSHUB · CC BY 2.0What is recorded in Fort Drum, and why there is no grade
Fort Drum has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Jefferson County. The Jefferson 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 Fort Drum alone, and no Safety Grade. The closest graded town is Black River, 2 miles away, at A+. Count 3 graded towns in the 10 miles around.
What stands out about safety in Fort Drum
Policed by the county
Fort Drum is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Fort Drum. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest New York towns with their own police figures are Black River (A+, 2 mi), Watertown (D, 8 mi), West Carthage (A+, 10 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Fort Drum. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Jefferson County without police of their own, which include Fort Drum.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
Also reports crimes in Jefferson County to the FBI.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Jefferson 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 New York towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black River | A+ | 2 mi | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| Watertown | D | 8 mi | 5.5 | 39.9 |
| West Carthage | A+ | 10 mi | 0.2 | 1.7 |
| Carthage | A− | 10 mi | 0.7 | 4.2 |
| Clayton | A | 20 mi | 0.0 | 4.9 |
| Gouverneur | D− | 26 mi | 4.2 | 51.1 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Fort Drum. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Fort Drum.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
No one died in a crash on Fort Drum’s roads in 2019–2023
That is fewer than is typical for New York towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (5.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Fort Drum’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Fort Drum’s own rate (0.0) 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.
Fort Drum and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Ray | — | — | — |
| Champion | — | — | — |
| Black River | A+ | 0.0 | 0.8 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Le Ray and Champion have no FBI figures of their own for 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 Fort Drum
Is Fort Drum, NY safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Fort Drum. The nearest New York towns with a grade are Black River (A+, 2 mi), Watertown (D, 8 mi), West Carthage (A+, 10 mi).
Who polices Fort Drum?
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. Fort Drum is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Jefferson 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 Fort Drum.
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.