TBI reports statewide crime declines

In a statewide review of 2006 crime statistics, the TBI compiles information from sheriff’s departments, municipal police departments, drug task forces, college and university police departments and other state agencies.

The report lists 46 different types of crime, ranging from gambling and prostitution, to murder and arson.

Crimes against people, such as murders, rapes and assaults, decreased by nearly 2 percent since 2005, according to the report released Wednesday.

While murders fell from 436 to 409 in 2006, Tennessee had a 20 percent spike in murder in 2005. Over a three-year period, murders in the state have increased 13 percent.

Copies of the report can be found at TBI’s Web site at http://www.tbi.state.tn.us.