Tennessee is making the rounds again when it comes to crime, and this time Knoxville, along with several other cities in East Tennessee are part of the controversy. And like the others, this latest ranking lacks proper evidence to support its claims, according to the FBI.
Homesecurity Shield, a site that promotes ADT services, lists Knoxville as the fifth most-dangerous city in the state, ahead of Nashville, which was No. 14. The home security site claims that Crossville is the most dangerous city in Tennessee. Athens and Memphis landed the No. 2 and 3 spots on the site's list, respectively. Chattanooga wasn't included in the list because it wasn't included in the FBI's 2012 report.
The promotional site used data collected by the FBI in 2012 on violent and property crimes to create its ranking. These are the same statistics that gave Tennessee the dubious distinction of having the worst violent crime rate in the country. But these rankings stand on shaky foundations; the FBI even warns people to avoid drawing comparisons between cities and states based on these statistics.
"They provide no insight into the many variables that mold the crime in a particular town, city, county, state region, or other jurisdiction," the FBI writes on its website. "Consequently, these rankings lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting cities and counties, along with their residents."
The FBI says this data can make "no meaningful comparisons" without examining all the variables that affect crime in a town, city, county or state.
