Local juvenile crime rate alarming
McMinnville is typical of any other medium-sized Tennessee city when it comes to crime, according to the TBI crime statistics released recently.
In a study comparing McMinnville to 21 similarly sized cities across the state, it was shown McMinnville is not much better or worse than other cities with its 1,600 crimes reported in 2004, ranking it 11th among like-size cities. Lawrenceburg ranked highest of the group with 2,005 crimes reported, while Soddy-Daisy was the lowest with 875.
As a means of comparison, Nashville had 91,692 crimes reported in 2004.
There was, however, one area in which McMinnville did rank worse than most cities its size. The area was the number of juvenile arrests with 127 last year. Only Sevierville with 194 and Goodlettsville with 168 had more people under 18 arrested.
The finding comes after McMinnville-Warren County has led the state for several years in arrests of juveniles per capita. This despite the fact McMinnville ranked 10th in the area of adult arrests with 758. Dickson had the most arrests of adults with 1,217. The upside was the fact juvenile arrests were down from 2003 when 165 were made here.
As for drug arrests, McMinnville ranked middle of the pack with 159. However, the number was not even half the number of 357 drug offenders arrested in Crossville and the 350 in Lawrenceburg. Covington had the least drug arrests with 36.
Despite a low drug arrest rate, Covington had the second highest robbery rate, with 22 heists, placing second only to Goodlettesville which had 24. McMinnville had less than a third that number with seven robberies.
The low McMinnville number was also reflected in the area of domestic assaults where 121 were reported. While middle of the pack, the number was nowhere near the 339 reported in Springfield and the 231 in Shelbyville.
When gauged with the state average, McMinnville reflected favorably, especially in the number of crimes solved. The clearance rate was 42 percent, fourth in the survey with Union City, Soddy Daisy and Dickson finishing ahead of McMinnville. Manchester had the lowest clearance rate with 19 percent.
Quick Facts on Tennessee crime
Some crime statistics from 2004: