TBI: Murders, rapes increased in 2017

NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released its 2017 'Crime in Tennessee' report on April 20, revealing a slight overall increase in reported instances of crime in the most recent reporting year.

The annual study compiles data reported from each law enforcement agency in the state through the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS). The TBI's sophisticated crime reporting system, in place for more than 15 years, provides an updated and comprehensive picture of the successes and challenges facing communities across Tennessee.

Among the findings in the 2017 report:

• Reported instances of Murder increased 6.7% from 2016 to 2017.

• Reported Rape offenses increased 3.2% in the same time period.

• The number of individuals arrested in connection to reported crimes decreased by 0.1% from 2016 to 2017.

• Juveniles accounted for 6.4% of all arrests, down from 6.5% in the previous year.

• 'Simple Assault' accounted for 67.0% of all reported domestic violence offenses.

• Drug/Narcotic Violations increased 4.9% in the previous year.

• The number of DUI arrests continued to trend downward in the past year.

"We're extremely thankful for our dedicated law enforcement partners," said TBI Director Mark Gwyn. "Together, they helped us compile a thorough snapshot of crime in Tennessee. We now hope every department takes this information and works to further address the key crime issues facing their communities and our state."

There are 532 reporting agencies in the state of Tennessee. And, for the second consecutive year, all agencies in Tennessee are compliant with TIBRS reporting. Tennessee is one of 16 states reporting 100% compliance. Nationally, 34 states are currently NIBRS-certified. To coincide with the release of this report, 2017's public data is now available for review on the TBI's online CrimeInsight platform, available at http://crimeinsight.tbi.tn.gov. The full 'Crime in Tennessee' report is available for review on the TBI's website: tn.gov/tbi.

DISCLAIMER: The TBI strongly discourages the ranking and comparison of jurisdictions and their crime rates by the data in the 2017 report. Demographic, socio-economic, and other factors out of the control of law enforcement contribute to the nature of the crimes committed. Crime varies from place to place and ranking the agencies solely on numbers would neither be fair to the agencies nor their communities.