According to a recent report by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Memphis has witnessed an unsettling rise in crime alongside a decline in arrest rates and case clearances. The city, struggling with a lowered population from 624,944 to 616,061, reported 124,521 offenses in 2023, an increase from 115,161 the previous year, as cited by Action News 5. Yet, despite the rise in crime, arrests have significantly dropped from 21,800 in 2022 to just 14,399 in the following year.
Murder rates have notably risen, going from 269 to 348, while within the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction, there has been a slight decrease in murders, dropping to 8 from 9. This all occurs amidst a backdrop of a city seeing fewer people in its borders, suggesting a deeper malaise gripping the city's sense of security and justice. The Commercial Appeal reported that the Memphis Police Department arrested at least one person in 17,422 offenses out of nearly 125,000 Group A offenses — a mere 14% clearance rate.
The TBI's definition of a case being "cleared" involves at least one person believed to be responsible for a crime being arrested. The clearance rate for the Memphis Police Department has suffered a nearly 4% decline compared to the previous year. Serious crimes, including aggravated assaults and motor vehicle thefts, have seen a 4% and a staggering 43% increase, respectively, yet the clearance rate for these offenses has not mirrored that upward trend.
Of the 348 murders reported by the Memphis Police Department, only 72, or roughly 20%, were cleared, according to the TBI report pointed out by the Commercial Appeal. Meanwhile, The majority of non-sexual assault cases, which totaled 26,849, saw a clearance rate of 13.8%. Notably, while the majority of arrests made in 2023 were adults, youth make up about 10.3% of all arrests. The Memphis Police Department has remained silent in response to questions and requests for comment on these alarming statistics.
Journalist Lucas Finton also highlighted the concerning decline in the Memphis Police Department's clearance statistics, reiterating that the department cleared just 13.99% of cases last year. Such rates reveal a dip from 2022's statistics and reflect a diminishing capacity, or perhaps a waning resolve, in bringing culprits to account—a trend that casts a shadow upon the city's confrontation with crime, both in the raw numbers and the percentage terms. This was captured in Finton's update on a social media post, marking a low point in the city's fight against criminal behavior.
The Memphis Police Department cleared 13.99% of cases last year according to TBI's annual crime report. This was a lower percentage than in 2022 and the raw number of cases cleared was lower. The raw number of arrests made in 2023 also dropped. https://t.co/gj0PvARp8x
— Lucas Finton (@LucasFinton) August 19, 2024
