With the recent coverage and concern of unarmed, uniformed military personnel being attacked in public, let’s look at crime statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation of various military posts and bases. These were selected for a safety brief for the Army Reserve Marksmanship Program as Team personnel participated in various events at these locations during Fiscal Year 2015.

Ft. Benning GA: Crime Index 3 out of 100 (100 is safest)
Home of the Infantry, with a crime rate of 67 per one thousand residents, Columbus has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes – from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One’s chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 15. Within Georgia, more than 91% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Columbus. Importantly, when you compare Columbus to other communities of similar population, then Columbus crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Columbus does relative to all communities in America of all sizes, compared to communities of similar population size, its crime rate per thousand residents stands out as higher than most. Now let us turn to take a look at how Columbus does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Columbus. From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Columbus occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in Columbus; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 195. This equates to a rate of 5 per one thousand inhabitants. Significantly, based on the number of murders reported by the FBI and the number of residents living in the city, analysis shows that Columbus experiences one of the higher murder rates in the nation when compared with cities and towns for all sizes of population, from the largest to the smallest. Lot of the crime that takes place in Columbus is property crime. Property crimes that are tracked for this analysis are burglary, larceny over fifty dollars, motor vehicle theft, and arson. In Columbus, your chance of becoming a victim of a property crime is one in 16, which is a rate of 62 per one thousand population. Importantly, we found that Columbus has one of the highest rates of motor vehicle theft in the nation according to our analysis of FBI crime data. This is compared to communities of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. In fact, your chance of getting your car stolen if you live in Columbus is one in 183.

Ft Bragg, NC: Crime Index 3 out of 100 (100 is safest)
With a crime rate of 67 per one thousand residents, Fayetteville has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes – from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One’s chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 15. Within North Carolina, more than 92% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Fayetteville. Importantly, when you compare Fayetteville to other communities of similar population, then Fayetteville crime rate (violent and property crimes combined) is quite a bit higher than average. Regardless of how Fayetteville does relative to all communities in America of all sizes, when NeighborhoodScout compared it to communities of similar population size, its crime rate per thousand residents stands out as higher than most. The crime data used for this analysis are the seven offenses from the uniform crime reports, collected by the FBI from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies, and include both violent and property crimes, combined. Now let us turn to take a look at how Fayetteville does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Fayetteville. For Fayetteville, we found that the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nation, across communities of all sizes (both large and small). Violent offenses tracked included rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon. According to analysis of FBI reported crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of one of these crimes in Fayetteville is one in 169. Significantly, based on the number of murders reported by the FBI and the number of residents living in the city, the analysis shows that Fayetteville experiences one of the higher murder rates in the nation when compared with cities and towns for all sizes of population, from the largest to the smallest. In addition, lot of the crime that takes place in Fayetteville is property crime. Property crimes that are tracked for this analysis are burglary, larceny over fifty dollars, motor vehicle theft, and arson. In Fayetteville, your chance of becoming a victim of a property crime is one in 16, which is a rate of 61 per one thousand population. Importantly, we found that Fayetteville has one of the highest rates of motor vehicle theft in the nation according to our analysis of FBI crime data. This is compared to communities of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. In fact, your chance of getting your car stolen if you live in Fayetteville is one in 322.

Ft. McCoy WI: Crime Index 29 out of 100 (100 is safest)
The crime rate in Sparta is considerably higher than the national average across all communities in America from the largest to the smallest, although at 26 crimes per one thousand residents, it is not among the communities with the very highest crime rate. The chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime in Sparta is 1 in 38. Based on FBI crime data, Sparta is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to Wisconsin, Sparta has a crime rate that is higher than 81% of the state’s cities and towns of all sizes. How does the crime rate in Sparta compare to similar sized communities across America? When NeighborhoodScout compared Sparta with other communities its size, we found that the crime rate was near the average for all other communities of similar size. So, whether Sparta’s crime rate is high or low compared to all places in the US, when we control for population size and compare it to places that are similar in size, it is near the middle of the pack in crime rate; not much more or less dangerous, and about what we would expect from the statistics. For this analysis are the seven offenses from the uniform crime reports, collected by the FBI from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies, and include both violent and property crimes, combined. Now let us turn to take a look at how Sparta does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Sparta. From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Sparta occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in Sparta; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 254. This equates to a rate of 4 per one thousand inhabitants. Analysis also reveals that Sparta’s rate for property crime is 22 per one thousand population. This makes Sparta a place where there is an above average chance of becoming a victim of a property crime, when compared to all other communities in America of all population sizes. Property crimes are motor vehicle theft, arson, larceny, and burglary. Your chance of becoming a victim of any of these crimes in Sparta is one in 45.

Camp Perry, OH: Crime Index 81 out of 100 (100 is safest)
According to analysis of FBI crime statistics, Perry is safer than 81% of the cities and towns in the US of all population sizes. In Ohio, only on the order of 17% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Perry. If you live in Perry, your chance of becoming a victim of crime in the community is 1 in 117. The US average across communities from the largest to the smallest is 1 in 32. Compared to other communities of similar population size, Perry has a crime rate that is noticeably lower than the average. This means that for comparably sized cities all across America, Perry is actually safer than most according to exclusive analysis of FBI crime data.The crime data used for this analysis are the seven offenses from the uniform crime reports, collected by the FBI from 17,000 local law enforcement agencies, and include both violent and property crimes, combined.Now let us turn to take a look at how Perry does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Perry. From our analysis, we discovered that violent crime in Perry occurs at a rate higher than in most communities of all population sizes in America. The chance that a person will become a victim of a violent crime in Perry; such as armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape or murder; is 1 in 272. This equates to a rate of 4 per one thousand inhabitants. Furthermore, our research shows that motor vehicle theft, arson, burglary, and larceny are not very common in Perry compared to most US cities and towns. In fact, the rate of these property crimes in Perry is just 5 per one thousand people, far below the national average. Based on this rate, Perry is one of the safer communities in America with regard to incidences of property crime.

Camp Perry is home of the National Rifle Association and Civilian Marksmanship Program National Matches, one of the largest annual shooting tournaments in the United States. In addition to military personnel, thousands of armed civilians compete. The facility is one of the few (only?) Army posts that remains open to the public with no gate guards or ID checks.

Quantico VA: Crime Index 91 out of 100 (100 is safest)
Marine Corps Base Quantico is home of the Marine Weapons Training Battalion with training facilities for the FBI.
Quantico is site of the annual Interservice Rifle Championships and ranges regularly host shooting matches open to the public and civilian shooters.