Crime drops in schools

Tennessee sees slight increase in domestic violence

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released on Thursday its annual reports on both domestic violence and school crime, noting a small uptick in the former and an appreciable decrease in the latter.

Simple assault made up almost 67 percent of the 78,100 domestic assault incidents in 2016, and females accounted for 71.5 percent of all reported victims. A total of 7,509 juvenile victims were reported.

“The problem of domestic violence has consistently plagued our society,” the report reads. “Findings of the study revealed that the number of domestic incidents increased by 1.7 percent between 2014 and 2016 and showed a slight increase (0.4 percent) from 2015 to 2016.”

In the school crime report, the reported number of offenses occurring in school decreased 8.8 percent over the last three years, trimming down from 9,598 offenses in 2014 to 8,751 in 2016.

“From 2014 to 2016, a total of 26,828 offenses that included 19,145 victims were reported by Tennessee law enforcement agencies with a school location code,” the report read.

Among other details in the report, was the fact that the most common weapon used was hands and feet, which made up almost 82 percent of cases.

It was also noted that Friday was the most frequently reported day of the week for school crimes, and males aged 13-15 were the most common arrestee at 42.4 percent of all arrested for school crimes.

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

“The threats to society by criminal activity must be addressed by efforts from all law-abiding citizens, as well as law enforcement agencies.”