“It was a great honor for us just to be named on that list,” said Mayor Eddie Gooch.
by MATT HUGHES
J-E News Editor
Providence is the #8 safest city in the commonwealth of Kentucky, according to a report released on Monday, June 2, 2014 by SafeWise Security Systems.
According to the report, which is based on statistics from 2012, Providence had 0.62 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 8.71 property crimes per 1,000 residents.
“I felt like it was a great honor for us just to be named on that list,” said Mayor Eddie Gooch. “I was very tickled to see that we ranked so high. I really didn’t know we ranked that well.”
Gooch said there were a lot of factors that he would credit for Providence’s ranking on the list. Among them were the local schools, churches and law enforcement.
“Our police do programs where they go to the schools and try to educate children on drug abuse and other issues,” Gooch added. “But I think it has a lot to do with the citizens and the upbringing of their children.”
Police Chief Brent McDowell echoed the mayor’s sentiments.
“I would like thank our officers for their hard work and all the citizens for helping to make Providence number eight,” said McDowell. “It takes everyone to help make a community or city safe.”
Providence’s closest neighbor to make the list was the city of Marion, which came in at 42. Marion recorded 0.66 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 24.57 property crimes per thousand residents.
Utah-based SafeWise provides services as an independent resource on community safety, providing reviews on security providers, research on community public safety initiatives and tips and tools to help individuals make homes and communities safer.
“SafeWise looks at a mixture of violent crimes and property crimes reported to the FBI in 2012 (the most recent data),” said David DeMille, a spokesman for the company. “We calculate the number of crimes per 1000 citizens in each city in order to accurately compare cities of varying sizes.”