Luverne was named one of the 30 safest cities in Alabama.

According to SafeWise.com, Luverne is the 24th safest city. The rank was determined based on crime data from the FBI.

Luverne Police Chief Paul Allen said he was pleased to see Luverne recognized.

“Mayor Sport and I want everyone to know that the City of Luverne and the Luverne Police Department will gladly be of service, no matter the date or time,” said Luverne Police Chief Paul Allen. “It is our duty to protect and serve and make sure that the ‘Friendliest City of the South is a safe and happy place for its citizens to reside and businesses to operate. I enjoy being able to assist people and I am proud and thankful on behalf of the city to be selected for this honor.”

According to SafeWise, for every 1,000 residents of Luverne, 6.4 were likely to experience a violent crime, such as murder, robbery, aggravated assault and forcible rape. Eighty percent (24 of the 30 cities on the list) reported no murder.

Also, 23 percent reported no robberies and more than a quarter of the safest cities on this list reported no murders and no forcible rapes.

For every 1,000 homes in Luverne, 18.86 were likely to have a property crime. On average, the safe cities that made the list experienced a property crime rate of 18.92 incidents per 1,000 residents, which is 31 percent lower than the typical American city reports.

SafeWise.com released its 30 Safest Cities in Alabama Report this week, honoring 30 cities from 18 Alabama Counties. In addition to Luverne, the list included Abbeville, Pleasant Grove, Satsuma, Hoover, Daphne, Moody, Daleville and Lewes.

Margaret topped the list with .22 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 6.68 property crimes per 1,000 residents.

To compile this report, SafeWise used the most recent FBI crime data from 2012 to analyze and rank these cities, which all have a minimum population of 5,000 people.

“The Safest Cities Report is used by many first-time homebuyers, apartment hunters and travelers to determine the safest places to buy, rent and stay in Alabama,” said Elli Bishop, SafeWise press Liaison. “These cities deserve recognition for the efforts of their citizens, police department and local and state government to make Alabama a great place to live.

SafeWise analyzed crimes from Part 1 of the FBI Unified Crime Report (UCR), which focuses on violent crimes (aggravated assault, forcible rape, murder and robbery) as well as property crimes (arson, burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft). From there, SafeWise calculated the chances of these crimes happening out of 1,000 in order to level the playing field for cities of varying populations. From all of the cities in Alabama, SafeWise narrowed the list down to 30 and assigned rankings according to data provided by the FBI’s UCR report.

SafeWise.com is a community-focused security organization made up of home security experts with more than 75 years of combined industry experience. SafeWise has been recognized by AngiesList, Apartments.com, ForRent.com, Homes.com and many others as a trusted industry leader in home safety and crime prevention.