Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Evident in Steep Declines in Key Metrics

NASHVILLE – Today, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released its annual ‘Crime on Campus’ publication, detailing the volume and nature of crime on Tennessee’s college and university campuses.

The report compiles data submitted to TBI through the state’s Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is obvious throughout the 2020 statistics, as students, staff, and faculty spent – in most cases – less time on college and university campuses. Among the report’s findings:

• Crime reported by Tennessee’s colleges and universities decreased by 33.5% from 2019 to 2020 and decreased overall by 40.6% since 2017.
• Offenses categorized as “Larceny/Theft” made up 26.3% of all reported offenses in 2020.
• The number of Burglaries increased by 11.2%, from 125 in 2019 to 139 in 2020.
• The overall category of “Sex Offenses-Non-Consensual” decreased by 34.2% in 2020.

“This report will hopefully assist law enforcement, institution administrations, and government officials in planning their efforts in the fight against crime and continue to create an awareness that crime exists as a threat in our communities,” said TBI Director David Rausch.

The full report is available on TBI’s website: https://tbinewsroom.com/2020/04/29/tbi-releases-annual-crime-on-campus-publication-2/