TIFTON — Tifton has been named one of the most dangerous cities in Georgia, according to Home Security Shield, a company that specializes in – no surprise – home security.

Some say the list is nothing more than a publicity stunt to make people nervous and get them to purchase new security systems for their homes. The website, www.homesecurityshield.com, also includes other states and their lists, and is a blog used by the company for search engine optimization (SEO), which drives traffic to the company’s website.

“We need to educate the public and let them know that’s what these guys are doing,” said Tifton City Manager Larry Riner. “It’s a sales tool, that’s all it is.”

The data used to compile the list is based on the FBI’s Table 8 2012 Uniform Crime Report. The site contains a disclaimer that states, “We use a standard computational formula to calculate our crime rates. This same formula is used by various state governmental criminal justice departments to calculate crime rate.”

According to the report, residents in Tifton have a one in 12 chance of becoming a victim of crime, and there are 7.21 violent and 70.68 property crimes per 1,000 residents. Tifton was ranked No. 16.

In addition, four other south Georgia cities in the area were listed: Albany (No. 8), Americus (No. 6), Douglas (No. 10) and Cordele (No. 14).

The survey information states that the cities were ranked according to violent crime rate, and both violent and property crimes were taken into account during compilation. Only cities with populations of more than 5,000 were included in the list, and cities with overall crime rates under 70 were excluded.

Also making the list were Stone Mountain, Swainsboro, Brunswick, Atlanta, East Point, Cedartown, Griffin, Norcross, Union City, Eastman, Dublin, Jesup, Macon and Hapeville. College Park was ranked the most dangerous of all.

The report lists Tifton as having a population of 17,049. Annual crimes totaled 77.89 per 1,000 residents. By comparison Albany, which often makes the headlines for crime, has a crime rate of 74.05 per 1,000 residents, making the chance of Albany residents become crime victims one in 13.

“My problem is how they put everything together. They’re lumping the big stuff with the small. And nothing is small. If you get a pecan stolen out of your yard, that’s big to you. But putting them together, the stats just don’t work. I don’t think that’s the best way to do it,” said Jamie Cater, Tifton mayor. He also noted that Moultrie didn’t make the list.

“I talk to the mayor of Moultrie all the time. It’s how the police department reports it. We know (Tifton Police Chief) Buddy (Dowdy) reports it how it’s supposed to be reported. We don’t pull any punches. That’s just how it is. That’s the price for being honest,” he said.

Dowdy agreed that the numbers are skewed.

“We did an assessment of the crime stats in Tifton around 2007, 2008, and the crime rates were higher than some of the other cities in the area,” he said. “So we got on the phone and started calling, and we found out they were not using NCIC (National Crime Information Center), GCIC (Georgia Crime Information Center) and FBI statistics formulas the way they’re supposed to.”

Dowdy went on to say they had found cities that, if the crime was not a felony, it was reported as Part 2.

“It doesn’t go on their stats. Therefore, your numbers are skewed,” he said. “Years ago, there was a city close to here that had a city ordinance, ‘disorderly conduct with a deadly weapon.’ We call that aggravated assault. I don’t think their intent was to hide the aggravated assault. I do know there has been a pattern of folks not calling it right down the line like we do. When we did our study, we talked with Tift County (Sheriff’s Office), and they call theirs right down the line, like us.”

Addressing the available crime statistics for Tifton and Tift County, Dowdy said the numbers on the city were likely correct, since local law enforcement reports the numbers accurately.

“But some of these other cities, I don’t know,” he said. “Look at East Elijay. They are a really small city, but their crime index is 275. Really? Elijay reported 0. There’s something wrong with that. Look at Omega. Are you telling me that in 2012 they didn’t have a theft? They didn’t have a violent crime? Because their numbers are still 0. It’s a city of less than 5,000, but what other cities with more than 5,000 didn’t have the right numbers either? I can’t say if the numbers are accurate or not.”

Another SEO site, www.neighborhoodscout.com, which provides crime, school and real estate reports for any address and is a tool for real estate agents and those in the market to buy a home, lists the top ten safest cities in Georgia. Making the list were two area communities: Sycamore and Omega. Other cities included Barwick, Register, Climax, Rayle, Midville, Meansville, Reynolds and Richland. The site is owned and operated by Location Inc., a company that uses SaaS technologies to provide data about locations all over the country.

The site gives Tifton a Crime Index of 2, noting 125 violent and 1,241 property crimes per year, and says the city of Tifton is safer than 2 percent of the cities in the U.S. It also shows that the national median for crimes per square mile is 39.3 – and Tifton’s rate is listed at 104 crimes per square mile.

The annual crimes, the site states, per 1,000 residents, totals 80.12. In a comparison, the site shows that there is a one in 136 chance of becoming a crime victim if you live in Tifton, and one in 264 if you live anywhere in the state.

The site ranks the safest neighborhoods in the Tiftarea as Brookfield/Harding, Eldorado/Linder, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Ferry Lake and Phillipsburg.

According to Dowdy, the Crime Index in Tifton in 2012 was 78; he didn’t have a figure for 2013.

“My opinion when it comes to an acceptable crime rate? An acceptable crime rate is zero. You can never say, well, we only had 10 thefts, that’s great. No. One theft is not great. And that’s the way we have to approach it. Now that’s not very realistic, but still, there’s got to be zero tolerance for that,” he said.

County Commissioner Melissa Hughes, District 2, said she was shocked to learn Tifton had been placed on the list.

“My thought at that time was, ‘No. Not my Tifton,'” she said, adding she believes it’s time to come up with a solution.

“(Schools) Superintendent  (Patrick) Atwater invited me to a meeting held in Albany at Albany Tech. The topic, ‘Poverty in the School System.’ That got me to thinking. Crime vs. survivor. The numbers that were shared at that meeting make me wonder why any cities on that list haven’t sat down with other cities within a 100-mile radius and tried to come up with a solution on why are we on this list?”

Hughes said many of the crimes committed by young people in the community may be to feed themselves or their families, and to keep a roof over their heads – and some may be “just because.”

“One thing for sure, we have a problem,” she said. “The numbers that I heard at that meeting, with Superintendent Atwater and about 80 others, they don’t lie. And if we don’t do something about crime in our communities, like more jobs with better wages, finding ways to help feed our children, we will not only be in the top 20 for most dangerous cities, but we will be a city that our town is spelled backwards:’NOTFIT.’

To contact editor Angye Morrison, call 382-4321.