Victims of violent crimes often suffer even after the attack is over.

They sometimes fear they could be assaulted again and they can feel isolated, said Teresa Jones, director of the Shelby County Crime Victims & Rape Crisis Center.

“They may feel like they’re the only ones going through some of the symptoms they may be experiencing,” Jones said.

Crime is up more than 20% from 2022, MPD says

But they are not the only ones, according to the latest crime statistics across Memphis and Shelby County.

The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission released its third-quarter data last week, indicating major violent crimes are up 6.4% in the city and 5% in the county through the first three quarters of this year compared to the same period in 2022. 

Violent crime increases were largely driven by the number of murders and robberies. The former was up 45.2% in the city and 42.4% in the county, and the latter was up 19.7% in the city and 18.9% in the county.

The crime commission, an independent nonprofit that is funded through private-sector donors and works on crime prevention methods, calculates its major violent crime rate by tallying the numbers of reported murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults per 100,000 residents.

There were a total of 12,331 major violent crimes committed this year in Memphis through Sept. 30, 2023.

Memphis is not alone in its car theft dilemma

The major property crime rate, also calculated by offenses per 100,000 residents, climbed even higher.

New stats show violent and property crime rates up in first half of 2023

Major property crimes were up 27.8% in Memphis and 26% in Shelby County in the first three quarters of the year, largely due to a 78.9% increase in auto thefts in the city and a 77.7% increase in the county.

Taken out further, auto theft increases are exponential: in the city, car thefts through the first three months of 2023 are up 233.3% compared to the same period in 2021 and 449.1% compared to 2016.

Bill Gibbons, president of the crime commission, said Memphis is not the only city seeing its crime rate rise, especially in the car theft category, “but that is little comfort.”

There were 33.5% more motor vehicle thefts in U.S. cities from January through June 2023 compared to the first half of 2022, according to the CCJ data.

Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy said car thefts have “been skyrocketing over the last couple of years.”

“Some of it has to do with particular models that can be easily broken into and started electronically,” Mulroy said.

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Car makes broken into the most in Memphis during the third quarter of 2023 included Kia, Hyundai, Nissan and Infiniti, according to data the Memphis Police Department provided to the Memphis City Council on Oct. 24.

According to MPD data, 18-year-olds stole cars the most often followed by 17-year-olds and then 16-year-olds. 

The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office has set up a special unit within the Shelby County Juvenile Court focused on auto thefts and auto burglaries.

“The same prosecutors are handling them so we can look for patterns,” Mulroy said. “We can look for repeat offenders because it definitely is a problem that definitely needs our special emphasis.”

MPD hosted steering wheel lock giveaways in May and October to help citizens arm themselves against car thefts.

If more police are the answer, exactly what will they do?

Gibbons said data-driven policing and “focusing on those repeat offenders responsible directly or indirectly through their influence over others for most of our crime” are essential to curbing crime rates.

“But we need more officers to deploy and more resources to focus on the drivers of crime,” Gibbons said.

‘Tougher accountability’

There needs to be more accountability for people committing crimes, said Delvin Lane, executive director of 901 Bloc Squad, a local organization that provides intervention services to at-risk youth and families in Memphis.

“I think the difference between federal and state prosecution seems to be a little bit different,” Lane said.

Lane said people who are convicted of federal crimes are less likely to re-offend because they know the penalties are stiffer.

“You get caught with one bullet, you might do 15 years in a federal penitentiary far away from here,” Lane said. “Versus the state level, you can get caught with rifles, and you can carjack somebody and get a bond and be out. I think we need to look at new legislation that does have a tougher accountability.”

Some state lawmakers are working toward that end.

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For example, state Rep. John Gillespie has said that, when the Tennessee General Assembly convenes in January, he will try to bring legislation that would distinguish between aggravated assaults when a gun was fired versus those when one wasn’t.

“If you hit someone with a stick, that’s aggravated assault. I shoot you in the stomach with a gun, that’s aggravated assault,” Lane said. “That’s a big difference.”

A report from the Council on Criminal Justice examining 37 American cities, including Memphis, showed that homicides were 9.4% lower through June 30, 2023, across the 30 cities that provided their data. Homicides include murders, justifiable homicides and negligent manslaughter.

For the first three quarters of 2023, homicides in Memphis were up 30% compared to the same period last year, according to MPD data.

‘A place of hope and healing’

Lane said people with criminal histories, whether they are violent or nonviolent, need more opportunities in career fields where they can make living wages.

“That will take away the temptation to go out and victimize somebody in order to get resources,” Lane said.

Lane said his interventionalists, many of whom have gone through the criminal justice system themselves, want to show people who are committing crimes that there is a different path they can take.

“We want to show them it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and give them a different trajectory through education and job placement, job training, conflict resolution, better decision-making, emotional intelligence,” Lane said. 

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As for victims or family members of victims, Jones said the Shelby County Crime Victims & Rape Crisis Center strives to provide them with healing services. The organization has advocates for people who seek out their services, and they pair them with those services, including individual or group counseling.

Jones said the center also goes out into the community and provides presentations and workshops to talk to people about trauma, what to expect and where to receive assistance.

As the holiday season approaches, the center will provide workshops for victims and show them how to cope with the loss of loved ones.

“We want to be there with them to kind of help them through that healing journey, so they don’t feel like they are alone in this process that they can receive help, and they can eventually get to a place of hope and healing,” Jones said.