Officials provide follow up on West TN crime statistics
SEE ALSO: Research reveals crime statistics for West Tennessee communities
JACKSON, Tenn. — We have a follow up to a story we first brought to you last week where we looked at crime rates across West Tennessee.
We spoke with officials to learn what makes these places safe and how they differ from areas with higher crime rates.
In a previous story, through research we found that a few towns ranked lowest on our list with Medina at a rate of 3.1 violent crimes reported per 100 people and Alamo at 4.2.
Tuesday, May 21, we visited District Attorney General, Frederick Agee, in Medina to speak with him about why he believes the crime rate in this community is so low.
“Well I think right now, Medina’s on track to continue being one of the safest communities, if not the safest community in West Tennessee. You have a lot of two parent households, a great education system,” said Agee.
Agee added that Medina also has city leadership who listens to their community and that economic stability plays a vital role in having a safe community.
“There’s a high percentage of households here that have certificates from trade schools, bachelors degrees, master’s degrees, those citizens are able to go out and get a good paying job and provide for their families,” said Agee.
Another community that ranked low on our list was Alamo in Crockett County at a rate of 4.2 violent crimes reported per 100 people.
We spoke to Mayor John Avery Emison, to hear his reasoning why.
“As a community, I think there’s a little more than–a little greater than average responsibility. I think there’s a little greater than average of people watching out for each other,” said Agee.
Across the 28th Judicial District which includes Gibson, Crockett and Haywood counties, Agee says the citizens work with law enforcement through community policing.
“If we have neighbors and we have citizens that are working with law enforcement officers to help us solve crime, we get those crimes solved quicker, more efficiently and we can remove people from our community that are a threat,” said Agee.
To see a full report of violent crime rates in West Tennessee communities, click here.
For more local news, click here.
