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Report: Crime Rate Falling In Tennessee Schools

cato.org

An annual survey of crime at Tennessee’s elementary and secondary schools shows a significant drop in the number of crimes reported over the past three years.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s 2013 School Crime Reportsuggests a total of 9741 crimes were committed at Tennessee schools in 2013, down from 12,466 in 2011.  That represents a 21.9 percent decline over the three-year period. 

One of the most significant drops involved gang-related crimes.  The survey reports crimes involving gang members has fallen 44.7 percent over the past three years. 

While gun-related offenses at schools get the most media attention, they represent only 2.5 percent of the weapons used in school crimes.  By far, personal weapons (described by the TBI as “hands, feet and teeth”) accounted for 78.3 percent.

The report also finds:

-Simple assault is the most common type of crime committed at school

-Boys (56.5%) are more likely to commit crimes than girls (24.5%), but girls (53.4%) are more likely to be victims*

-April was the month with the highest number of crimes

-Crimes were more likely to be committed on Wednesday than any other day of the week

-Most crimes took place between noon and 3:00 p.m. 

-There were two murders reported in 2013: both victims were adults well beyond school age

*19% of the victims' gender in 2013 were listed as "unknown"

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