While 2020 is likely to be remembered as the year of the coronavirus pandemic, 2019 might be remembered in Tennessee for the drop in reported crime statewide. Chattanooga’s WRCB recently aired a story about the release of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s annual “Crime in Tennessee” report.
According to the TBI, last year’s Group A offenses (generally considered the most serious) dropped 5 percent from 2018’s total.
Most serious crimes: down
The law enforcement agency said individual totals in the most serious crime categories were down: murder dropped 0.8 percent last year; rape decreased 7.4 percent and weapons law violations were down 6 percent. Kidnapping/abduction dropped 7.2 percent from 2018 levels.
TBI also reported that arrests for domestic violence were 4 percent lower in 2019 than they had been a year earlier. (The agency said there were 578 aggravated assault incidents reported in Chattanooga last year, while domestic violence incidents classified as simple assault number 1,693 in our city.)
Bucking the trend
Though drug violations statewide dropped 5.6 percent last year, methamphetamine-related arrests rose from 16,461 in 2018 to 18,086 in 2019.
The time of day in which the most arrests were made last year: 3 pm to 5:59 pm. The time period with the fewest arrests? Three am to 5:59 am.
Worst and best months
More Group A offenses were logged in August than in any other month last year (47,177), while the fewest were tallied in February (38,278).
There were also about 750 fewer drunk driving arrests in Tennessee last year, while assault offenses decreased 3.6 percent from 2018 to 2019.
