Is University Place the most dangerous city in Washington state? Not according to people who live in or visit the South Sound town.
“I like to come and walk here because it’s pretty and it looks safe,” said Johnny Helmich of Tacoma who was visiting Chambers Bay.
“We have no problem here,” said Tom Snyder who has lived in University Place for 40 years. “We live here, we still enjoy it.”
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But according to the National Council for Home Safety and Security, of 72 cities in the state, University Place ranks last for safety.
The ranking was included on the council's website listing of, what the council claims, are the safest cities in Washington in 2019. And according to local law enforcement officials in University Place, that ranking is all wrong.
“These numbers are fake,” said Pierce County sheriff’s detective and spokesman Ed Troyer. “They’re only designed to scare people into buying alarm systems.”
According to the website Alarms.org, “The National Council for Home Safety and Security is a national trade association comprised of licensed alarm installers contractors and other relevant trade groups across the United States”. The site even suggests local alarm installers based on a search of your ZIP code.
According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, which operates the University Place Police Department under a contract with the city, statewide crime statistics actually rank University Place 37th for violent crime, far lower than other cities the council claims are safer.
“We believe that this company that’s putting out these number is putting out artificial numbers in order to inflate the appearance of crime,” Troyer said of the list.
According to the Sheriff's Department, Fife is actually at the bottom of the list of cities ranked by violent crime rates. The fewest violent crimes were recorded in Snoqualmie.
KIRO 7 contacted the County for Home Safety and Security through its website to ask about the rankings, but has not received a response.
Cox Media Group
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