Oak Harbor is the ninth safest out of 80 cities in the state, according to a new study.

Oak Harbor Police Chief Kevin Dresker said he isn’t surprised. Statistics that the study is based on, he said, accurately reflect the lack of crime in the city.

“It’s a very nice place to live.”

The National Council for Home Safety and Security, a trade group, used FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics and population data to create the report. Cities under 10,000 people and those that didn’t report were eliminated from the list.

The cities are ranked based on the number of violent and property crimes reported per 1,000 people. Violent crime were weighed to equal 1.5 of the total “due to their severity,” the report states.

Sammamish is considered the safest city, followed by Lynden, West Richland, Camas, Maple Valley, Bainbridge Island, Kenmore and Washougal.

Tukwila was listed as the least safe city, followed by Spokane and Fife.

Oak Harbor had 49 violent crimes and 322 property crimes over the course of a year, the report states. That’s a rate of 2.15 violent crimes per 1,000 people and 14.13 property crimes per 1,000 population.

Dresker credits a partnership between the police and many different elements in the community as being important to keeping the streets safe. In addition, he opined that the the number of service members in the community also contributes to the safety.

“The people have a sense of responsibility,” he said.

File photo/Whidbey News-Times Children feed seagulls at Oak Harbor’s Windjammer Park.