Crime on Campus Study Results for Tennessee Colleges

belmont university

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) has released to the public its annual crime study detailing the volume and nature of crime on the state’s college and university campuses. ‘Crime on Campus’ compiles data submitted to TBI by the state’s colleges, universities, and law enforcement agencies through the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS).

Among the report’s findings:

  • Overall, crime reported by Tennessee’s colleges and universities increased slightly, by 0.8% from 2015 to 2016.
  • In total, 27% of all 2016 offenses reported were categorized as Larceny/Theft.
  • Fraud Offenses increased by 8% in 2016, with a substantial increase in the category of Impersonation, with a 177% increase from 13 in 2015 to 36 in 2016.
  • Assault Offenses increased by 21% year-to-year.
  • There was a 27% decrease in reported Rape offenses, from 62 in 2015 to 45 in 2016.

As always, the TBI strongly discourages the comparison of one institution’s statistics to another. The factors impacting crime vary from community to community and rudimentary comparisons will most likely result in inaccurate, generalized, and unfair conclusions of the perceived ‘safety’ of one campus over another. It is more helpful for context, in the TBI’s assessment, to compare an institution’s data over the course of several years.

“This report will hopefully assist law enforcement, institution administrations, and government officials in planning their efforts in the fight against crime and continue to create an awareness that crime exists as a threat in our communities,” said TBI Director Mark Gwyn.

Here are some results from nearby colleges:

CollegeSex OffensesAssault OffensesLarceny/Theft OffensesDrug/Narcotic ViolationsCampus Population
Belmont University82026239,210
Columbia State Community College01203,070
East Tennessee State University428694915,463
Lipscomb University00405,382
Middle Tennessee State University2391207024,261
Nashville State Community College00405,948
Tennessee State University048404010,185
University of Memphis9461214222,042
University of Tennessee Martin21133167,490
University of Tennessee Chattanooga4216511612,940
University of Tennessee Knoxville56423813734,067
Vanderbilt University1618740222837,468

 

The full 2016 ‘Crime on Campus’ report, along with similar studies dating back to 2001, is available for review online: http://tn.gov/tbi/article/recent-publications.

1 COMMENT

Comments are closed.