Reports of rape began rising in spring 2024 and have increased nearly 24% compared to the end of September last year, with close to 500 complaints filed in the Nashville and Davidson County area.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — With only a few months left in 2024, most crimes in Nashville and Davidson County are trending only slightly above or below numbers last year.
Despite a sizeable increase in homicides in August and September, the homicide rate remains 2.6% lower than it was this time last year. Reports of auto theft have also fallen back to numbers similar to 2023 after skyrocketing at the beginning of 2024.
The one exception appears to be reported incidents of rape. Reports began rising in spring 2024 and have increased nearly 24% compared to the end of September last year, with close to 500 complaints filed in the Nashville and Davidson County area.
While those numbers can sound staggering, some experts suggest they may simply indicate more people are reporting the crime, which has often gone unreported.
“The reality is sexual violence is one of, if not the most, underreported crime(s) that we experience as a society,” Tia Freeman, the director of training and community outreach for the Sexual Assault Center, told News 2 in March. “And so sometimes that underreporting is just reports coming in, and then it is hard to tell what’s happening, one or the other.”
The statistics referenced are derived from unofficial reports in the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) weekly crime initiative book. The weekly report prepared by the MNPD Crime Analysis Section provides preliminary data on all part one offenses.
Part one offenses include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson. However, arson offenses are not included in public MNPD Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) because those offenses are investigated by the Nashville Fire Department.
Although the data is reviewed by the MNPD for accuracy and completeness, it does not reflect official counts. Below is a full breakdown of the crimes that have been reported in Nashville and Davidson County during the first nine months of 2024.
Violent crime
Violent crime is composed of four offenses: homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. According to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, violent crimes are those offenses which involve force or threat of force.
According to unofficial reports, the rate of violent crime in Nashville and Davidson County is slightly lower than it was this time last year. The data reflects a 4.3% decrease, with a total of 6,762 violent crimes reported by Sept. 28, 2023, and 6,469 reported by Sept. 28, 2024.
The largest drop in violent crime so far this year appears to be in the MNPD’s North Precinct, where preliminary reports reflect a 11.5% decrease. There are two police precincts that have seen an increase in violent crime, although only slight jumps.
Violent crime has gone up about 3.8% in the police department’s West Precinct and about 4.4% in the Hermitage Precinct.
Homicide
Unofficial reports show the homicide rate in Nashville and Davidson County has increased slightly from last month but is still lower than this time last year.
Preliminary data reflects a 2.6% decrease compared to last year, with 76 homicides reported by Sept. 28, 2023, and 74 reported nine months into 2024.
At least 22 of those homicides occurred in August and September. That’s double the number of homicides that were reported during the same eight-week period last year, representing a 100% increase.
The city ended 2023 with a little over 100 homicides, continuing a trend that started in 2020. Since then, there have been over 100 homicides reported every year. MNPD’s crime stats show 2017 was the first time Nashville had seen over 100 homicides in almost two decades.
The Midtown Hills Precinct saw the largest rise in homicide last year, with a 100% increase compared to 2022. However, that rise can be attributed to a mass shooting at The Covenant School on March 27 that resulted in the deaths of three adults and three children.
Preliminary reports show there have been five homicides reported in the Midtown Hills Precinct so far in 2024 — a 58.3% decrease from this time last year.
The majority of homicides reported nine months into 2024 have been in the North, Hermitage and South Precincts. Altogether, there have been 47 homicides reported in just those three areas.
Nearly 56.7% of homicide victims have been between the ages of 18 and 34. Unofficial reports show one victim has been 65 years or older and 17.6% of victims have been teens and children between the ages of 0 and 17.
Seven of the homicides reported so far this year have been recorded as domestic-related.
Rape
Unofficial data shows the number of rapes reported in Nashville and Davidson County has increased compared to this time last year, with 402 reports made by Sept. 28, 2023, and 497 reports made by Sept. 28, 2024.
That’s 50 more reports since the beginning of September, or an about 11.2% jump. The police department’s Midtown Hills Precinct has consistently seen one of the largest increases in reports, with a 57.1% rise compared to this time last year.
That’s also a significant rise compared to the end of April, when there were only 15 reports made in the Midtown Hills Precinct. As of Sept. 28, 2024, preliminary data shows there have been 88 rapes reported in the area.
A few other police precincts have also received a sizeable number of reports since the beginning of the year. By Sept. 28, data shows 96 rapes were reported in the police department’s South Precinct and 82 were reported in the Hermitage Precinct.
A little over half of all complaints have been filed in the South, Midtown Hills and Hermitage Precincts.
Aggravated assault
There have been 5,015 incidences of aggravated assault reported in Nashville and Davidson County so far this year — an about 5.8% decrease from the 5,323 aggravated assaults reported by Sept. 28, 2023, according to unofficial reports.
The FBI’s UCR Program defines aggravated assault as an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. A large portion of aggravated assaults have been reported in the MNPD’s South Precinct with about 1,268 incidents.
Every police precinct has seen a decrease in reports, expect one. The Hermitage Precinct has reported a 0.2% increase in incidences of aggravated assault.
Robbery
The total number of robberies reported in Nashville and Davidson County has dropped about 8.1% compared to this time last year, according to preliminary reports. Overall, there have been 883 reports made, which is 78 less than the number of robberies reported by Sept. 28, 2023.
The FBI’s UCR Program defines robbery as the taking or attempting to take anything of value from a person by force or threat of force, and by putting the victim in fear.
The largest drop in robberies appears to be in the Madison Precinct, where unofficial reports indicate a 34.1% decrease. County-wide, commercial robberies have dropped about 26.2% compared to this time last year, while street robberies are down about 5.9%.
However, three police precincts have reported an increase in robberies. The West Precinct has been hit the hardest, with a 34.5% increase in reports compared to last year. Meanwhile, the North Precinct has reported an 8.3% increase, and the Hermitage Precinct has seen an 8.7% rise.
Property crime
Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson. According to the UCR Program, the object of theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims.
Unofficial reports show property crime in Nashville and Davidson County has increased by about 4.5% compared to this time last year. In total, 23,692 incidents have been reported compared to the 22,679 incidents reported by Sept. 28, 2023 — a rise that has partially been driven by an increase in auto theft.
The majority of property offenses have been reported in the police department’s South, Hermitage and Midtown Hills Precincts. Those three areas account for 12,011 incidences, or a little over half of all reports received so far this year.
However, the area that has seen the largest overall rise in property crime compared to last year is the MNPD’s Madison Precinct at about 21.1%.
Burglary
Burglary involves the unlawful entry of a home or business. Preliminary reports show there has been an about 3.2% increase in reports of burglary compared to this time last year.
The 2,202 burglaries reported so far this year is also an 9% jump from the beginning of September when there were 2,020 reported. Overall, the largest increase in reports has been in the MNPD’s North Precinct, where data shows a 36.1% increase in burglary.
While commercial burglary has been down county-wide for much of 2024, unofficial data indicates a slight uptick with a 2.4% increase compared to last year. In the North Precinct alone, commercial burglaries have increased by nearly 59%.
Residential burglary is also up about 3.7% county-wide, with the North and Madison Precincts seeing the largest rises.
Larceny
Unofficial data indicates reports of larceny in Nashville and Davidson County are not far off from this time last year, with a 4.3% increase. Examples of larceny are thefts of bicycles, motor vehicle parts and accessories, shoplifting or pocket-picking.
While there has not been much of a change county-wide, reports have increased in nearly every police precinct except the Midtown Hills and Central Precincts. Reports of larceny have dropped about 11.7% in the Midtown Hills Precinct and about 2.4% in the Central Precinct.
Meanwhile, preliminary reports show the area with the largest rise in reports of larceny has been the Madison Precinct. In total, larceny has increased about 18.6% in the area.
Auto theft
Auto theft has been one of the fastest-rising crimes in Nashville and Davidson County for much of 2024, according to unofficial data. However, reports have been decreasing over the past few months.
In total, 3,865 auto thefts have been reported so far this year, compared to the 3,647 thefts that were reported by Sept. 28, 2023. That’s a 6% increase compared to this time last year, but a significant change compared to the start of 2024 when thefts were up over 120%.
Preliminary data shows reports of auto theft have dropped nearly 15% when compared to the same eight-week period between August and September last year. The Metro Nashville area ended 2023 with close to 6,000 auto thefts — a nearly 75% increase from 2022.
According to the unofficial reports, two of the eight police precincts have seen an over 30% increase in auto thefts nine months into 2024. The East Precinct has been hit the hardest, with a 40.6% rise in thefts compared to this time last year.
The Midtown Hills Precinct has seen the most significant decrease in thefts, with an about 13.5% drop from last year.