TBI Report Shows Violent Crime Rising on Tennessee College Campuses

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) last week released its annual report on criminal activity on college campuses, which shows, in part, that violent crimes are on the rise at Tennessee’s institutions of higher learning.

According to the report, crime as a whole jumped a whopping 26.28 percent from 2021 to 2022.

Between 2020 and 2021, there were 3,745 total criminal incidents reported, with that number reaching 4,729 between 2021 and 2022. TBI notes that overall crime numbers have still decreased since 2019, when universities tallied a total of 5,721 reported offenses.

Of note, assaults increased at a sharp rate – nearly 30% – during the reporting period. So too did drug and narcotics offenses, which jumped 16.03 percent.

Motor vehicle thefts jumped a whopping 159.68 percent between 2021 and 2022. In 2021, there were 62 auto thefts on college campuses. In 2022, there were 161.

The most common crime on college campuses, according to the report, is theft and/or larceny, which accounted for 28.5 percent of all reported crimes between 2021 and 2022.

Both generalized “sex offenses” and rapes decreased by more than 50 percent.

There were two murders on Tennessee’s college campuses during the reporting period, along with five kidnappings and 20 rapes.

The report also ranked total offenses by location on college campuses.

The most crimes were committed in university libraries, followed by parking lots and garages, and then residences. Fourth on the list was streets and/or alleyways.

Tennessee’s colleges and universities are obligated by  Tennessee’s “College and University Security Information Act” of 1989 to self-report all criminal incidents through the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS). TBI then compiles its report using that data.

“This report will hopefully assist law enforcement, institution administrators, and government officials in planning their efforts to fight crime and continue to create an awareness that crime exists as a threat in our communities,” said TBI Director David Rausch. “The threats to society by criminal activity must be addressed by efforts from all law-abiding citizens, as well as law enforcement agencies.”

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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “College Student” by Tim Gouw. Photo “Tennessee Bureau of Investigation” by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.