PCB blasts crime report

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BRANSON MO NEWS: “We live in a safe community,” Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman said in an interview with The News Herald. “There’s not a place in this city I wouldn’t walk down the street alone at night.”

ZACK McDONALD News Herald Reporter @PCNHzack

PANAMA CITY BEACH — A report that found Panama City Beach was one of the most dangerous cities in the nation has drawn sharp criticism from local officials.Safewise, a Salt Lake City-based home security company, recently released the report, called “The 30 Most Dangerous Cities in America — 2017.” It draws on FBI crime stats from 2015 and concluded Panama City Beach ranked 22nd in the country for violent crimes and property-related crimes per capita. The report prompted Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman to defend the performance of his police department Thursday before the Beach Council.Whitman presented the council with context to the company’s findings. He did not dispute the numbers, but he said Safewise did not take into account the influx of about 14 million visitors each year.“We live in a safe community,” Whitman said in an interview with The News Herald. “There’s not a place in this city I wouldn’t walk down the street alone at night.”In its report, Safewise included all cities across the country with populations of more than 10,000 people. With the Beach’s population of about 12,500 in 2015, Safewise concluded the residents of Panama City Beach were more likely to be a victim of a crime than those of Detroit or New Orleans or New York City. It found that for every 1,000 people, about 11 suffered violent crimes, and out of every 1,000 people, about 88 fell victim to property crimes.Based on those stats, Panama City Beach placed 22nd in crime nationwide, sandwiching it between Anniston, Alabama, and North Myrtle Beach, South …