Loudon ranked safest city in Tennessee, Memphis least safe
The city of Loudon is the safest city in Tennessee,
according to rankings from an insurance research company.
ValuePenguin, which provides data to auto, home and health
insurance companies, analyzed the most recently available
crime data from the FBI to determine the safety of cities in
Tennessee.
Of the 89 cities analyzed, Loudon had the lowest crime score
with just five violent crimes and 47 property crimes for
2013, the lowest in the state. Maryville was listed at 24.
Lenoir City was listed at 36, Knoxville ranked 81, Nashville
83 and Memphis was last at 89.
Loudon Police Chief James “Bear” Webb said he’s not
surprised his town is at the top of the list. “A whole lot
of it has to do with the community. The community desires
that this be a safe place to live,” he said.
Webb said the mayor and city council provide the necessary
resources to the public safety departments. He said his
department is well-equipped for a town of just 5,710. Other
towns of the same size have twice the crime but don’t get
the resources his department receives.
Almost all his officers are involved in community activities
whether it is coaching sports or serving in local
government, Webb said. He said a good example is Sgt. Scott
Newman. A longtime member of the county school board, Newman
is also a middle and high school sports coach.
“I believe the police force should be involved in the
community, mentoring our young men and letting them know
that the police are their friends,” Newman said.
Rankings were also determined based on the size of the city.
Among the safest big cities Brentwood ranked No. 1. Among
mid-sized cities White House was first. Loudon was first
among small cities.
To rank the cities Value Penguin collected data from the
2013 FBI crime statistics by city, which provides the most
recent crime data available. Not every town participates in
the report. Towns with fewer than 3,000 residents were
excluded because towns with small populations are more
sensitive to crime score fluctuations for fewer crimes
committed.
The raw data report included property crimes (burglary,
larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson), and violent
crimes (murder/manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated
assault) from all law enforcement agencies that chose to
partake in the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program
The data was standardize to reflect violent and property
crimes per 100,000, to account for population. A crime score
was aggregated by weighting violent crime at 90 percent and
property crime at 10 percent.
Though property crime is more prevalent, researchers figured
that violent crime is more concerning to town residents. The
score was then adjusted for population size, giving more
slack to larger cities. The cities were then ranked based on
their crime scores.
Foot Note: Being designated as the safest city in the state is quite an achievement. Much credit should go to the citizens on the city and their law enforcement professionals. Maybe it's just me, but when I first read this story I couldn't help but remember the Andy Griffith show Crime-Free Mayberry.
The town of Mayberry is awarded with having the
lowest crime rate in the country. Two men posing as
an FBI agent and press photographer come to Mayberry
to congratulate the town. Andy, Barney, and the rest
of the town do not realize that the two are actually
imposters and partners in crime preparing to rob the
Mayberry Bank. Andy discovers during the award
ceremony that all is not what it seems, and catches
the photographer in the act of opening the vault.
Barney, naturally agrees with Andy's findings after
first gleaming in the glory of his and Andy's sharp
police work.
Be on the look out for any FBI men showing up in Loudon. |
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8/24/15