THE USE OF RELATIVELY ISOLATED LOCAL COMMUNITIES OF LESS THAN 2,000 PEOPLE IN AN INVESTIGATION OF CRIME RATES OVERCOMES TWO OF THE BASIC CRITICISMS OF THE USE OF AREA RATES. PREVIOUS STUDIES WERE CRITICIZED BECAUSE THE AREAS STUDIED WERE NOT INDEPENDENT UNITS AND THE MEANING OF THEIR CRIME RATES WAS DOUBTFUL; ALSO, THE AREAS WERE NOT HOMOGENEOUS UNITS AND THE RATES BECAME DISTORTED. RATES WHICH ARE OPEN TO SUCH LIMITATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO STATISTICAL MANIPULATION. LIMITATIONS OF THE SPECIFIC DEFINITION OF A CRIME CAN BE OVERCOME BY THE STUDY OF TOWNS WITHIN A SINGLE STATE. IN THE STUDY OF 24 WISCONSIN TOWNS WITH POPULATIONS BETWEEN 1,000 AND 2,500 THE CRIME RATES WERE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF MALE FELONS IN AN 8-YEAR PERIOD. SEVEN COMMUNITIES, IN PARTICULAR, WERE EXAMINED, AND THE SUBJECT GROUP WAS NARROWED TO MALES BETWEEN THE AGES OF 15 AND 44. OF THE 24 INDEXES CORRELATED WITH CRIME RATES, 4 HAD SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS WITH CRIME RATES. THREE OF THE FOUR WERE INDEXES OF ECONOMIC PROSPERITY, SUCH AS THE ASSESSED VALUE OF PROPERTY. THE THIRD SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION INVOLVED THE MUTUAL-AID PARTICIPATION RATES. THE INCIDENCE OF CRIME IS MORE RELATED TO THE PROSPERITY OF THE COMMUNITY THAN TO THE TYPE OF BUSINESS INVOLVED OR TO THE DEMOGRAPHIC CLASSIFICATIONS OF THE PEOPLE. A HIGH CRIME RATE IS BELIEVED TO BE A FUNCTION OF THE LOSS OF SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS, AND COMMUNITY VALUES. THE PREVENTION OF CRIME RELIES ON SOCIAL CONTROLS WHICH ARE FOSTERED BY VALUES THAT INDUCE SATISFACTION AND BY SOCIAL PARTICIPATION WHICH PRODUCES INTEGRATED COMMUNITY LIVING. FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED.