Crime Crisis: 2021 statistics point to violent trend
A record number of homicides occurred in Memphis in 2021. Near the end of the year victims’ family members placed memorial ornaments on wreaths at the Season of Remembrance event sponsored by the office of District Attorney Amy Weirich to honor those slain. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
The latter half of 2021 showed violent crime flattening a bit in Memphis, but newly released statistics show murder and other violent crime rates still higher than previous years.
Statistics released by the Public Safety Institute and the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission show a 2% increase in major violent crime for all of 2021 in Memphis and a 1.2% increase countywide.
The Crime Commission said Tennessee Bureau of Investigation figures for the last half of 2021 were not available. However, commission officials drew their conclusions from data provided by the Memphis Police Department.
(Courtesy Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission and the University of Memphis)
In August, September and November, major violent crime was down compared to the same months in 2020. Major violent crime includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
The number was down by 9% in August, and 7% in September and November.
But in July, October and December, violent crime was on the rise. In July, it was up 1%, 7% in October and 2% in December.
The city recorded 346 homicides in 2021, which broke the record year of 2020 when 332 were killed.
Nationwide, homicides were also up. Experts have debated the reasons for the national increase, ranging from the pandemic to poverty to increased access to firearms.
Bill Gibbons, president of the Crime Commission and executive director of the Public Safety Institute at the University of Memphis, discussed the fourth-quarter violent crime stats for Memphis and Shelby County.
Orange Mound neighbors gathered for a community walk in 2021 to create awareness of violence. (Houston Cofield/The Daily Memphian file)
“Whether or not this is the beginning of a longer downward trend is something time will tell, but it is encouraging,” Gibbons said. “Still, our major violent crime rate remains above what it was in 2019 before the pandemic and substantially above what it was in 2011, the lowest point in our violent crime rate in many years. This is not the time to slack up on efforts to reduce violent crime but rather just the opposite.”
While violent crimes rose in Memphis, property crimes including burglaries, motor vehicle thefts and other felony thefts declined 5.5% in 2021 compared to 2020. Countywide, property crimes decreased 6%, according to the preliminary TBI data.
(Courtesy Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission and the University of Memphis)
Topics
violent crime Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission Bill GibbonsYolanda Jones
Yolanda Jones covers criminal justice issues and general assignment news for The Daily Memphian. She previously was a reporter at The Commercial Appeal.
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