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Collegedale & Signal Mountain are some of safest towns in Tennessee

Collins Parker # State
 Safest_Cities

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN/COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. (WDEF) – How safe are you in your community?

The latest figures show that two of the safest cities in Tennessee are in Hamilton county.

Tennessee’s largest cities also have some of the highest crime rates.

But the state has many communities that can boast about their quality of life.

Based on the number of reported violent crimes per 1000 people, an on-line safety resource called “Safewise” has named the 20 safest cities in the state.

Signal mountain, with 8500 residents is number 3.

Mayor Chris Howley tells us

“We’re obviously very pleased with the results coming in third in the state in safety and if you look at the top two towns, we’re about twice the size of each of those, and really a lot of this, the majority if not all is due to the leadership of Chief Williams.”

Signal Mountain Police Chief Mike Williams says “It’s all as a result of their efforts out on the street. I try to make it to where they’ve got the equipment and the training and the funding to do so. And then they know what to do, they’re well trained and they’re extremely community oriented. ”

The results were based on FBI statistics from 2016…the latest figures available. Crimes reported include murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery.

The study by SafeWise confirms that Collegedale is number 6 on the safe list.

Mayor Katie Lamb says

“They know the community, and they listen to the community. The community knows that if they call something in, there’s going to be an officer there as soon as they can.”

Assistant Police Chief James Hardeman adds

“The men and women of the Collegedale Police Department come in and simply do their job every day. They’re very excited to be here and we have a great work force, and they come in and do an effective job."

The report also says that there are actually more than twenty cities and towns in the state with violent crime rates that fall below two per 1,000 people.

But at the top of the list are communities like Germantown in Shelby County, Brentwood, near Nashville, Loudon in East Tennessee and Pleasant View in Cheatham county.

Belle Meade in Davidson county is listed as the safest city in the state.