A national research company, ValuePenguin, whose data is used by such companies as Fox Business, Bloomberg Businessweek, Yahoo Finance, CNBC, USA Today and the Washington Post, has named Elizabethton as the sixth safest city of its size in Tennessee.
The information concerning the safety of 89 Tennessee cities was compiled based on ValuePenguin’s analysis of the most recent FBI Crime Report 2013 crime statistics by city. The cities received a score, ranging from 303 to 6,096, with an average of 1,901.
The company, which specializes in homeowner insurance research, listed the top 5 safest places in Tennessee, as Nolensville, #5; Oakland, #4; Brentwood, #3; Signal Mountain, #2, with Loudon taking the top spot, having had only five violent crimes and 47 property crimes – both the lowest in the state – listed in the 2013 report.
In the rankings, the cities were also analyzed based on population, with Elizabethton compared to other cities in the 10-25,000-population range. Elizabethton placed sixth, with a crime score of 1,559, behind Tullahoma (5), Portland (4), Soddy-Daisy (3), Martin (2) and White House (1)
Elizabethton City Police Chief Greg Workman says he is pleased with the rating and credits the men and women who serve on the city’s force which includes 40 sworn officers.
“We have a quality group of officers and they are extremely good at their job,” Workman said. “We’ve got a lot of experience here.”
As the city becomes more and more of a destination for visitors, Workman said having the right number of people on the job is important, especially in areas like the Tweetsie Trail.
“We have a lot of stop signs on the trail, and so far we’ve been fortunate,” he said. “We’re visible and we’ve got a lot of officers who know what they’re doing.”
In the overall list of 89 cities, which includes communities of all sizes, Elizabethton ranked 37th. Other Northeast Tennessee cities listed include Mount Carmel (6), Jonesborough (12), Church Hill (18), Erwin (30), Bristol (40), Greeneville (47), Johnson City (50), and Kingsport (65).
Nashville, Tennessee’s capital, fell near the bottom of the rankings (83) with a crime score of 3,832. However Nashville came in several notches above bottom ranked Memphis, (pop. 657,691).
According the website, this was true despite the fact that the crime score metric was adjusted for population size. ValuePenguin also says the score took into account both the amount of violent and property-related crimes per 100,000 people.
“Being in sixth place is a good thing,” Workman said. “But when you’re ranked sixth, there’s room for improvement. You always want to do better, so we have more to achieve.”