Area cities among safest in Arkansas

WESTSIDE — Gentry and Gravette are listed among the 20 safest cities in which to live in Arkansas for 2016. Gentry is ranked ninth in the state. Gravette is listed at the No. 13 spot.

The listing is prepared by SafeWise, a company which reviews and assists customers in choosing and obtaining home security systems and equipment.

The SafeWise website states: “To identify the 10 safest cities in Arkansas, we reviewed the most recent FBI Crime Report statistics from 2013, along with population data. We eliminated all cities with fewer than 3,000 residents as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI. From there, we evaluated the remaining cities. We narrowed it down based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) in each city. To further level the playing field, we calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city.”

Gentry fell from No. 6 last year to No. 9 this year. This is the first year for Gravette to be included in the listing. Other cities in the Eagle Observer coverage area have populations less than the minimum requirement of 3,000.

BellaVista was ranked third, Centerton fifth, Lowell 11th and Prairie Grove 15th.