Palmer ranked Alaska’s second-safest city

PALMER — The National Council for Home Safety and Security has ranked Palmer as the second-safest city to live in Alaska.

The council reviewed the most recent FBI uniform crime report statistics — from January to June of 2016 — along with its own population data and internal research to assemble its "Top 10" list. Cities with a population of 5,000 or more were included in the council's methodology. Cities that did not submit a complete crime report to the FBI were not considered.

The remaining cities were ranked based on the number of violent crimes and property crimes per 100,000 people. Violent crimes include aggravated assault, murder, rape and robbery. Property crimes included burglary, arson, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft. Those variables were then weighted, with violent crimes accounting for 70 percent of the total — due to their severity. To account for Alaska's relatively sparse population density, the council redrew the ranking to show rates per 1,000 individuals.

Sitka bested the field. As noted, Palmer was second followed by North Slope Borough, Homer, Fairbanks, Kodiak, Kenai, Juneau, Bethel and Anchorage. As a whole, Alaska's population comprises .01 percent of the nation's total. However it has twice as much violent crime and property crime rate 17 percent above the national average.

According to the council's research, Sitka's population of 8,850 reported 14 violent crimes and 147 property crimes to the FBI in the latest available statistics. With its smaller population of 6,652, Palmer reported more violent crimes but fewer property crimes than Sitka. The numbers came in at 22 violent and 121 property crimes per 1,000 persons.

North Slope Borough's population was listed at 9,707 and tallied 80 violent crimes and 102 property crimes per 1,000 people. With a population of 5,511, Homer's violent crime rate sat at seven. But a large property crime rate of 193 dropped the city to fourth. Ketchikan, with a population of 8,286, tallied 285 property crimes and 31 violent crimes per 1,000 residents.

The report only listed statistics for the top five Alaskan cities.