by Terence Corrigan

Following along with Murfreesboro’s 38.6 percent population increase over the last decade, the number of serious crimes annually reported to local police rose from 11,033 in 2008 to 13,873 in 2018. But, while the number of crimes increased by 27 percent the number of arrests dropped 14 percent from 5,140 in 2008 to 4,422 last year.

(According to Murfreesboro Police, the crime rate in Murfreesboro has declined by 9.4 percent—from 1,084 serious crimes per 10,000 population in 2008 to 982 per 10,000 population in 2018. The department chose not to address the arrest rates.)

Murfreesboro Police cleared just over 31 percent of their cases in 2018, well below their peer group in terms of populations.

Of the other four Tennessee cities with populations close to Murfreesboro’s the crime clearance rates are better with the exception of Chattanooga (population 179,139) with a crime clearance rate of 30.22 percent as compared with Murfreesboro’s 31.28. The other similar-sized cities’ crime clearance rates are as follows: Clarksville – 42.71 percent; Franklin – 47.65 percent; and Knoxville – 46.23 percent. (Murfreesboro’s was 31.28 percent; well over 10 percent lower.)

Statewide, including all law enforcement agencies, the clearance rate averaged 41.4 percent. (Murfreesboro Police offered an alternative number, saying that the average clearance rate of cities with populations ranging from 125,000 to 200,000 was 37.25 percent, putting Murfreesboro just 5.97 percent below the average of its peer agencies.)

Nationally, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program, law enforcement agencies cleared 45.6 percent of the violent crimes and 18.3 percent of property crimes.

In its annual “Crime in Tennessee” report (2018’s was released in May 2019) the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation compiles crime statistics on 54 of the more serious offenses from all local and state law enforcement agencies. A crime is deemed “cleared” when an arrest is made or when a suspect is identified but circumstances prevented police from making an arrest.

The crimes, called Group A offenses, are divided into three subcategories: crimes against persons, crimes against property and crimes against society.

Property

The most commonly reported property crimes in Murfreesboro over the last decade have been burglary and property damage or vandalism.

The number of burglaries reported to the TBI by Murfreesboro Police in 2018 dropped precipitously from the 2008 figure. Murfreesboro reported 625 burglaries in 2018 down 38.2 percent from the 1,011 reports in 2008.

In 2008, Murfreesboro Police reported clearing 37 of their 1,011 burglary cases (3.7 percent) arresting 29 adults and eight juveniles.

Ten years later, in 2018, with just 625 burglary reports, Murfreesboro Police cleared 38 cases (improving their percentage to just over 6 percent) arresting 33 adults and five juveniles.

Statewide in 2018 there were 33,101 burglaries reported with 4,736 cases cleared, a clearance rate of 14 percent.

Nationally, according to the FBI, police cleared 13.1 percent of their burglary cases.

Sex Crimes

In 2018, Murfreesboro Police reported investigating 116 violent sex crimes: 59 reports of forcible rape, four reports of forcible sodomy, 15 reports of sex assault with an object and 38 incidents of forcible fondling. They cleared 10 of those cases (around 8.5 percent). Statewide the clearance rate for those sex crimes was around 31.6 percent: 5,573 incidents of which 1,759 were cleared.

Ten years earlier, in 2008, statewide, the number of the four violent sex crimes reported was similar: 5,156. The clearance rate, however, was better at around 38 percent. But, in Murfreesboro the clearance rate for the four sex crimes was 6.5 percent in 2008. Murfreesboro Police cleared 7 of the 107 violent sex crimes reported in 2008.

Crimes Against Society (Drugs)

Methamphetamine production and use is rising rapidly in Tennessee. The TBI made note of this in the 2018 report pointing out the 66.9 percent rise in reported meth offenses in three years, from 2016 to 2018. In 2016, statewide, there were 5,526 meth offenses reported. In 2018 that number nearly tripled to 15,899 meth offenses.

Meth offenses are not reported separately by cities and counties.

The rise of drug offenses in Murfreesboro (not including paraphernalia and other drug equipment violations) rose by 26.4 percent in just one year, from 2017 to 2018. Ten years ago, in 2008, the number of offenses was 552.

Over the 10-year period from 2008 to 2018 the population of Murfreesboro has increased by 38.6 percent, from 98,406 to 136,372, while the total number of offenses reported by Murfreesboro Police has increased by 27 percent, from 11,033 in 2008 to 13,873 in 2018.

Of those 13,873 crimes reported in 2018, Murfreesboro Police cleared 4,339, a clearance rate of 31.28 percent.

Statewide, of the 552,110 offenses reported in 2018 the clearance rate was 41.4 percent.

From 2002 to 2018, Murfreesboro Police Department’s clearance rate has ranged from 19 percent in 2005 to 34.79 percent in 2014. The department’s second highest clearance rate was in 2013 at 34.25.

“We are currently reviewing our procedures in order to ensure that clearance rates are being reported as accurately as possible,” according to the MPD statement. “We have recently implemented a new Field Based Reporting system and Case Management system that will allow us to better track clearance rates.”

When asked if the TBI report is “an accurate gauge of what’s really going on?” the department answered “yes.”

“The Murfreesboro Police Department is committed to utilizing all available resources in order to provide quality service to our community and ensure that our city continues to be a safe and enjoyable place for all who live, work and visit,” according to a statement by MPD Chief Michael Bowen.

To view the complete TBI annual Crime in Tennessee reports going back to 2001, visit tn.gov/tbi/crime-issues/crime-issues/crimestatistics.

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TBI: “Don’t use statistics to judge police departments”

The TBI does not want the statistics in its annual crime report to be used to make comparisons. In his letter introducing the 2018 report, TBI Director David Rausch writes “As always, we strongly discourage ranking of law enforcement agencies according to the statistics. There are too many demographic, socioeconomic and other factors out of the control of law enforcement that contribute to the nature of the crimes committed. Crime varies from place to place and ranking the agencies based solely on numbers would neither be fair to the agencies nor their communities.”

In the introduction to the 1,000 pages of crime statistics, the agency lists factors that it says make comparisons unfair, including climate, cultural conditions, administrative and investigative emphases of law enforcement, family conditions with respect to divorce and family cohesiveness, effective strength of law enforcement, modes of transportation and highway systems, the attitudes of a jurisdiction’s citizenry toward crime and the crime reporting practices of its residents, and policies of judicial and corrections systems.

In short, the TBI says, you can’t say who won a ballgame by the score.