NASHVILLE — Murders in Tennessee dropped 14.55% in 2022, while reported cases of rape and kidnapping respectively fell 10.6% and 11.98% from 2021, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s latest annual “Crime in Tennessee” report.
However, not all categories of crime are dropping, according to the report, which is based on annual crime statistics submitted by all state and local law enforcement agencies to the TBI.
Crime rates in some areas are rising. For example, motor vehicle thefts rose 26.91% from 2021 to 2022. Reports of identity theft grew 25.55%. And the TBI says the number of victims of crime actually rose last year by 1.08% to 346,362.
The agency collects information on 24 crime categories made up of 54 offenses. The report groups crimes in two categories with serious crimes in group A. That includes offenses such as homicide, arson, assault, kidnapping, rape and other sex offenses as well as larceny, robbery, embezzlement, fraud, animal cruelty, motor vehicle theft, weapons law violations, stolen property and human trafficking.
A group B category includes crimes such as passing bad checks, disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, public drunkness, “peeping Toms” and trespassing.