Reported crimes are up across the board for the first quarter of 2023, according to a report released Tuesday by the Memphis-Shelby Crime Commission.

Major violent crime is up 7.7% in Memphis and 5.4% in Shelby County compared to the first quarter of 2022.

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A 155% increase in city vehicle thefts (and a 153% increase in the county) drove major property crimes up 43.5% in Memphis and 42.1% in Shelby County.

The rise in first-quarter major violent crimes was present in all four categories when compared to the first quarter of 2022. For three of those categories:

• Rapes were up 41%;
• aggravated assaults were up 5.9%;
• and robberies were up 4.8%

Murder is the other major violent crime category, and its classification is more complex. Some homicides initially identified as murders are reclassified as negligent or justifiable.

According to recent data MPD provided to the Crime Commission, there were 81 murders during the first quarter, a 35% increase from the 60 murders at the same point in 2022.

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The rate of major violent crime has risen 60% in Memphis and 52% in the county compared to 2011, which represented the lowest point since the commission’s Operation: Safe Community launched in 2006.

Other specific categories of major property crime include burglary, which is up 18% year-over-year, and other felony thefts, such as thefts from vehicles, which are up 23%. 

Compared to 2016, which experienced the lowest major property crime rate since 2006, major property crime rate rose 72%. 

Reported major domestic violence events also rose 8.8% in Memphis and 5.6% in Shelby County in the first quarter compared to last year.

Charges for drug and weapon-law violations declined in the quarter. In Memphis, drug charges decreased 39%, and weapon charges were down 27%, according to the report.

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“The disturbing increases in reported crime are driven mainly by three categories — crimes committed with guns, vehicle thefts and vehicle break-ins,” Bill Gibbons, president of the Crime Commission and executive director of the Public Safety Institute at the University of Memphis, said in a statement.

Gibbons recommends data-driven deployment of law enforcement resources, focused deterrence, violence intervention, and “a sentencing structure that holds offenders accountable and also offers rehabilitative opportunities.”

“We need a sense of urgency to scale up and sustain proven best practices,” Gibbons said.

On juvenile crime, Ben Adams, board chair of the Crime Commission, said, “The public wants action.”

He pointed to “scaling up a system of restorative justice, more intensive community supervision, enforcement of our curfew ordinance, a system of blended sentencing to extend the age jurisdiction of our juvenile system, more secure beds in facilities for serious juvenile offenders” as potential options.