NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For the first time this year, at least one part of the Metro Nashville area is seeing a notable decrease in reports of auto theft.
Preliminary data shows reports have gone down nearly 12% in the Midtown Hills area. While most other police precincts are still dealing with a rise in car thefts, it marks a shift from the beginning of 2024 when auto theft reports were up nearly 120% across Nashville and Davidson County.
Like most crimes, reports of auto theft have been leveling off with last year's numbers. However, the city ended 2023 with over 6,000 auto thefts reported—a 75% increase from the previous year.
Overall, property crime has remained slightly higher than last year, but Metro Nashville police are continuing to see a decrease in violent crime. Of note is a continuous decrease in homicide, with a 19% drop compared to this time last year.
Those statistics are derived from unofficial reports in the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) weekly crime initiative book.
The weekly report prepared by the MNPD Crime Analysis Section provides preliminary data on all part one offenses, including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson.
Arson offenses in Davidson County are not included in public MNPD Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) because those offenses are investigated by the Nashville Fire Department.
Although the data is reviewed by the MNPD for accuracy and completeness, it does not reflect official counts. Below is a full breakdown of the crimes that have been reported in Nashville and Davidson County during the first seven months of 2024.
Violent crime
Violent crime is composed of four offenses: homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. According to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, violent crimes are those offenses which involve force or threat of force.
According to unofficial reports, the rate of violent crime in Nashville and Davidson County is slightly lower than it was this time last year. The data reflects a 6% decrease, with a total of 5,343 violent crimes reported by Aug. 3, 2023, and 5,023 reported by Aug. 3, 2024.
The largest drop in violent crime so far this year appears to be in the MNPD’s Madison Precinct, where preliminary reports reflect a 16% decrease. There is one police precinct that has seen an increase in violent crime, although it's only a slight jump.
Violent crime has gone up about 1.1% in the police department’s West Precinct.
Homicide
Unofficial reports show the homicide rate in Nashville and Davidson County has dropped about 18.8% compared to last year, with 64 homicides reported by Aug. 3, 2023, and 52 reported about seven months into 2024.
A large portion of this year's homicides were reported between March and May. Eight have reportedly occurred since the beginning of July.
The city ended 2023 with a little over 100 homicides, continuing a trend that started in 2020. Since then, there have been over 100 homicides reported every year. MNPD’s crime stats show 2017 was the first time Nashville had seen over 100 homicides in almost two decades.
The Midtown Hills Precinct saw the largest rise in homicide last year, with a 100% increase compared to 2022. However, that rise can be attributed to a mass shooting at The Covenant School on March 27 that resulted in the deaths of three adults and three children.
Preliminary reports show there have been three homicides reported in the Midtown Hills Precinct so far in 2024 — a 75% decrease from this time last year.
The majority of homicides reported in the first half of the year have been in the North, Hermitage and South Precincts. Altogether, there have been 32 homicides reported in just those three areas.
Nearly 53.8% of homicide victims have been between the ages of 18 and 34. Unofficial reports show one victim has been 65 years or older and 23% of victims have been teens and children between the ages of 0 and 17.
Seven of the homicides reported so far this year have been recorded as domestic-related.
Rape
Unofficial data shows the number of rapes reported in Nashville and Davidson County has increased compared to this time last year, with 319 reports made by Aug. 3, 2023, and 386 reports made by Aug. 3, 2024.
That’s 64 more reports since the beginning of July, or an about 20% jump. The largest increase has been in the police department’s Midtown Hills Precinct, where reports of rape have risen by 63.6% compared to this time last year.
That’s also a nearly 380% rise compared to the end of April, when there were only 15 reports made in the Midtown Hills Precinct. As of Aug. 3, 2024, preliminary data shows there have been 72 rapes reported in the area.
Only two police precincts have received close to as many reports, with 72 rapes reported so far this year in the South Precinct and 63 in the Hermitage Precinct. A little over half of all complaints have been filed in the South, Midtown Hills and Hermitage Precincts.
Aggravated assault
There have been 3,901 incidences of aggravated assault reported in Nashville and Davidson County so far this year — an about 6.5% decrease from the 4,171 aggravated assaults reported by Aug. 3, 2023, according to unofficial reports.
The FBI’s UCR Program defines aggravated assault as an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. The majority of aggravated assaults have been reported in the MNPD’s South Precinct with about 975 incidents.
Every police precinct has seen a decrease in aggravated assault reports, although the decrease in the South Precinct is very small at just 0.7%.
Robbery
The total number of robberies reported in Nashville and Davidson County has dropped about 13.3% compared to this time last year, according to preliminary reports. Overall, there have been 684 reports made, which is 105 less than the number of robberies reported by Aug. 3, 2023.
The FBI’s UCR Program defines robbery as the taking or attempting to take anything of value from a person by force or threat of force, and by putting the victim in fear.
The largest drop in robberies appears to be in the Madison Precinct, where unofficial reports indicate a 32.4% decrease. County-wide, commercial robberies have dropped about 35.9% compared to this time last year, while street robberies are down about 10.3%.
The only area that has seen an increase in robbery is the MNPD’s West Precinct with an about 57.1% rise compared to Aug. 3, 2023.
Property crime
Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson. According to the UCR Program, the object of theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims.
Unofficial reports show property crime in Nashville and Davidson County has increased by about 7.4% compared to this time last year. In total, 18,754 incidents have been reported compared to the 17,464 incidents reported by Aug. 3, 2023 — a rise partially driven by an increase in auto theft.
The majority of property offenses have been reported in the police department’s South, Hermitage and Midtown Hills Precincts. Those three areas account for 9,518, or a little over half of all reports received so far this year.
However, the area that has seen the largest rise in property crime compared to last year is the MNPD’s Madison Precinct at about 24.7%.
Burglary
Burglary involves the unlawful entry of a home or business. Preliminary reports show there has been an about 13.4% increase in reports of burglary compared to this time last year.
The 1,814 burglaries reported so far this year is also an 18.6% jump from the beginning of July when there were 1,530 reported. Overall, the largest increase in reports has been in the MNPD’s North Precinct, where data shows an 62% increase in burglary.
While commercial burglary has been down county-wide for much of 2024, unofficial data indicates it is now rising with a 12.2% increase compared to last year. In the North Precinct alone, commercial burglaries have increased by nearly 83%.
Residential burglary is also up about 14.2% county-wide, with the North and South Precincts seeing the largest rises. Three areas, the Central, Hermitage and East Precincts, have seen a decrease in burglaries.
Larceny
Unofficial data indicates reports of larceny in Nashville and Davidson County are not far off from this time last year, with a 5.5% increase. Examples of larceny are thefts of bicycles, motor vehicle parts and accessories, shoplifting or pocket-picking.
While there has not been much of a change county-wide, reports have increased in nearly every police precinct except the Midtown Hills and Central Precincts. Reports of larceny have dropped about 9.7% in the Midtown Hills Precinct and about 0.8% in the Central Precinct.
Meanwhile, preliminary reports show the area with the largest rise in reports of larceny has been the Madison Precinct. In total, larceny has increased about 20.9% in the area.
Auto theft
Auto theft has been one of the fastest-rising crimes in Nashville and Davidson County for much of 2024, according to unofficial reports. In total, 3,093 auto thefts have been reported so far this year, compared to the 2,740 thefts that were reported by Aug. 3, 2023.
That’s a 12.9% increase compared to this time last year. However, the amount of auto thefts does appear to be leveling off as thefts were up over 120% at the start of 2024. The Metro area ended 2023 with close to 6,000 auto thefts — a nearly 75% increase from 2022.
According to the preliminary data, four of the eight police precincts have reported an over 18% increase in auto thefts within the first seven months of 2024. The East Precinct has been hit the hardest, with a 55.2% rise in thefts compared to this time last year.
For the first time in 2024, at least one area is seeing a notable decrease in reports of auto theft. Unofficial data shows auto thefts have decreased by about 11.8% in the Midtown Hills Precinct.