Gail M. Williams

MULESHOE CORRESPONDENT

AdvisorSmith, a business insurance research company, has released a 2019 study that ranks Muleshoe the 24th safest small city in Texas.

According to a press release, “Our study analyzed violent and property crimes from 39 large cities, 198 midsize cities, and 418 small cities in the state. Crime scores were calculated for each city and the cities were ranked to find the safest places in Texas.”

The study discovered that:

• Muleshoe’s crime score was 12.1, which was much lower than the statewide average of 44 for small cities.

• Muleshoe’s violent crime rate was 2.9 per 1000 residents, compared with an average of 9.9 per 1000 across all small cities.

• The city’s property crime rate was 5.3 per 1000 residents. Statewide, the average property crime rate in small cities was 17.6 per 1000.

According to the AdvisorSmith website, the crime score places higher weight on more serious crimes likemurder and rape, while assigning a lower weighting to property crimes. The average crime score for Texas cities was 48, and scores ranged from 6 up to 371.

Ranking1among small citieswas Double Oak with 5.9. Last at 418 was Cuney with 371.4.

Other area cities ranked as follows:

• Friona 59 with 17.4

• Farwell 151 with 28.7

• Bovina 174 with 31.9

• Dimmitt 273 with 45.8

• Floydada 338 with 60.5

• Sudan 401 with 99.6 Muleshoe Chief of Police Gary McHone said Muleshoe scored high with another study last year, ranking 15 in the Security Baron poll.

McHone says there is no silver bullet to ensure a city’s safety; however, the department has taken several steps such as sector- based patrolswhich help to ensure that every area of town is regularly patrolled.

“We try to be proactive, to get into the businesses when they’re open,” McHone said. “We try to establish a presence and maintain a good relationship with the community.”

McHone said sometimes businesses only see law enforcement during an emergency.

“It’s important to make contact with employers, convenience stores and banks. We stop by to say hello, to see how things are going and what’s happening. This can help deter criminal behavior,” McHone said.

McHone said he did not have enough information at this time to say whether crime is up or down since the onset of the coronavirus early in 2020. He said the department has been proactive since the beginning about using PPE, and that they’ve been using social media more as a venue to put out information.

Among large cities, Amarillo ranks last at 39 with a score of 204.6. Lubbock is slightly better at 37 with a score of 131.0.

Among midsized cities Plainview ranks 106 out of 198 with 50.9.

To view the report, go to advisorsmith.com/data/ safest-cities-in-texas.