A new study that ranks Washington cities by safety offered mixed results for Clark County.
The National Council for Home Safety and Security, a trade association for home security businesses, released a study in late January ranking 73 cities. At seventh, Washougal was the highest-ranked city in Clark County, followed by Battle Ground at 10th, Camas at 16th and Vancouver at 47th.
Overall, Washington’s crime and property crime rates are 19 percent below the national average, according to the study. Snoqualmie was tabbed as the highest ranking city, with University Place at the bottom.
The study considers the number of violent crimes — murder, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — and property crimes — including burglary, theft and arson — submitted by each city for the annual FBI Uniform Crime Report. Violent and property crimes for each city were added together and divided by the city’s population.
The total number of crimes were also divided by the number of law enforcement employees to determine what the study referred to as “police adequacy.” The two tallies were added together to create a safety score for each city.
Cities with fewer than 10,000 residents or ones that did not provide complete reports to the FBI were not considered.
Despite ranking last in Clark County, Vancouver’s violent crime rate is only slightly above the national average, and the property crime rate is well below it, according to the study. The city’s results were comparable to Seattle, one spot ahead in the ranking.
When asked about the results, local law enforcement officials were skeptical.
“They’re a group that is trying to get people to buy alarms, so that is a study that wouldn’t necessarily look at crimes the way we look at them,” Vancouver Police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said.
Instead, the department conducts monthly analyses of crime data from four city districts, Kapp said. The department doesn’t typically compare the stats with other cities.
Battle Ground Police Chief Bob Richardson appreciated the ranking but shared some of Kapp’s apprehension.
“I guess it’s nice to be the No. 10 city in Washington, but I don’t know what that rating means in terms of other departments,” Richardson said. “In reality, you have to figure out if people feel safe. I think that’s a variable that’s lacking in this survey they do.”
Battle Ground mostly grapples with crimes of opportunity, like car break-ins and thefts, rather than person-on-person crimes, Richardson said. “You’re not likely to get assaulted by a stranger or robbed by a stranger, so it’s relatively safe.”
Richardson also cautioned against taking crime statistics at face value. Law enforcement agencies have numerous different ways of collecting and organizing data, an inhibiting factor in crime studies.
“If you’re always looking for 100 percent, you’ll never get that in terms of crime statistics,” Richardson said.
