The police behind Chief Lake’s crime figures
Chief Lake has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Sawyer County. The Sawyer 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 Chief Lake alone, and no Safety Grade. Hayward, 9 miles away, is the nearest town with a Safety Grade (D).
What stands out about safety in Chief Lake
Policed by the county
Chief Lake is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Chief Lake. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest Wisconsin towns with their own police figures are Hayward (D, 9 mi), Spooner (B−, 28 mi), Ladysmith (B+, 35 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Chief Lake. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Sawyer County without police of their own, which include Chief Lake.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Sawyer 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 Wisconsin towns with a Safety Grade
Straight-line distance from the center of Chief Lake. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Chief Lake.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Two people died in crashes on Chief Lake’s roads in 2019–2023
Chief Lake had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which two people died.
That is about what is typical for Wisconsin towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (6.8 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Chief Lake’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Chief Lake’s own rate (60.6) 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.
Chief Lake and its neighbors
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Hayward and Bass Lake 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 Chief Lake
Is Chief Lake, WI safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Chief Lake. The nearest Wisconsin towns with a grade are Hayward (D, 9 mi), Spooner (B−, 28 mi), Ladysmith (B+, 35 mi).
Who polices Chief Lake?
The Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office. Chief Lake is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Sawyer 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 Chief Lake.
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.