Rocky Mount Climbs in Rankings for Safest Cities in North Carolina for 4th Consecutive Year
The National Council for Home Safety and Security (NCHSS) does a detailed analysis annually on safety and security. They look at all municipalities across every state in the country in developing their rankings each year. Last month, they released their 2020 rankings and for the fourth consecutive year, Rocky Mount climbed significantly up the charts. This places the city in its highest ranking ever among the Safest Cities in North Carolina.
The 2020 Safest Cities in North Carolina listings are on the official NCHSS website, alarms.org. There, it explains in detail the research and final analysis process used in compiling the annual list. Likewise, they also explain what size municipalities are in the analysis and they give a full listing with statistics on all towns ranked.
How Has Rocky Mount Continued its Climb Among Safest Cities in North Carolina?
This is a valid question for any of the municipalities in the 2020 Safest Cities in North Carolina. In the case of Rocky Mount, one can not discount the focus and effort of law enforcement in several areas. Programs, gatherings, and urging residents to work alongside police to make the city as safe as possible are example of how they continued to climb.
That being said, one could also not minimize the efforts of Rocky Mount residents in the continuous rise of their city on this list. Working together with public officials and police to provide a safer environment certainly is a factor in the movement among the Safest Cities in North Carolina.
The numbers that will be described below show exactly what areas of research and analysis weigh into these rankings. Rocky Mount’s numbers in all of these areas are the lowest they have seen in many years. Yes, the hard work of city officials, police, and residents has been a big help in mking the city safer. But, it is also safe to say that the introduction of family-friendly communities such as Belmont Lake Preserve has likewise added to the city’s increased safety levels, too.
How does the NCHSS Arrive at the final Safest Cities in North Carolina List?
At alarms.com, the experts from the NCHSS explain the analysis process . The explanation for how they name the Safest Cities in North Carolina begins under the subheading “Methodology.”
“To identify the Safest Cities in North Carolina, we reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics. We eliminated any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI.” It was added that they also would eliminate any town with a population under 10,000. That gave the entity a total of 3,381 cities to research and analyze. The two main categories in which each of these municipalities receive analysis then are violent and non-violent crimes.
How Does the NCHSS Define and Rank According to Crime Rate Averages?
The article on 2020’s Safest Cities in North Carolina goes deeper in its explanation of the process. As just noted, they look at the crime reports, more specifically at both violent and non-violent crimes.
According to the article, per the FBI crime reports, “Violent crimes are … those offenses that involve force or threat of force.” In defining non-violent crimes, they also use the term “property crimes.” They explain these are usually “theft-type” crimes.
“The object (of property crimes) …is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims.”
It is worth noting that this 2020 ranking is Rocky Mount’s best overall ranking ever in the listings. Consequently, the city has its lowest scores for both violent and non-violent crime in the six-year history of the NCHSS list.
How Do They Get Final Numbers for the Safe City Rankings?
To answer the following, we again refer to the official answer given by the NCHSS. “We compute the total number of crimes reported by each city by adding violent and property crimes. We then created a crime rate as the number of crimes per 1,000 population. Then we transform the total crime rate variable so that we reduce the skewness.”
For more details on the entire listing of Safest Cities in North Carolina, visit alarms.org.