On Tuesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Statistical Analysis Center released its annual publication detailing the volume and nature of hate crime in Tennessee.

Among the findings of Hate Crime 2021: 

• The number of offenses categorized with a known bias motivation increased from 122 in 2020 to 133 in 2021. 
• Bias-motivated offenses categorized as Crimes Against Persons accounted for 73.48% of all reported hate crimes in 2021. 
• Of the bias-motivated Assaults reported, Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry bias accounted for 64.89% of reported incidents in 2021, while the second most frequently reported bias was Sexual Orientation, accounting for 14.89% of reported assaults. 
• Bias-motivated 'Occurrences'  that were Anti-Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Anti-Transgender doubled between 2019 and 2021.  
• The age group that most commonly reported a bias-motivated crime were those between the ages of 35 and 44. Tying at the second most likely age group to report such crimes were those between the ages of 25 and 34, and also those who were 18 or younger.   
• When looking at bias-motivated crimes involving weapons, attacks that involved the suspect using their own body as a weapon to hit, bite or kick a victim, occured 5-times more often than a suspect using a gun. 

The report draws upon data submitted to the TBI through its Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS) program.

Additional Information on Crime Fighting in Tennessee: 

Recently released statistics confirmed the TBI’s ‘Instant Check System’ processed over 733-thousand firearm transactions between 2020 and 2021. The system is used at gun stores across the state to ensure firearms sold in Tennessee are only approved for law-abiding citizens. 

Some of the programs under the lead of the TBI have made it hard for criminals to outrun the long-arm-of-the-law. Since the inception of the AMBER Alert program, there have been 141-activations in the Volunteer State. During the fiscal year of 2020 to 2021, the TBI's Most Wanted program has led to the capture of 18-dangerous fugitives. Since the start of the Tennessee Most Wanted program, 475 wanted fugitives have been apprehended.

When examining human trafficking cases between 2020 and 2021, Human Trafficking Intelligence Analysts in the state processed 1,065 tips. Of that number, 740 of those cases involved minors. If those numbers align with Human Trafficking arrests and rescues, then 69.4% of Human Trafficking cases between 2020 and 2021 involved minors. 

TBI Director David Rausch stated, “I am very proud of the efforts of all participating law enforcement agencies, colleges, and universities in the state to provide the data necessary to produce this report.” The director went on to say, “Our combined efforts have resulted in a successful program and this annual report detailing the nature of bias-motivated crime occurrences in our state.”

To see the most recently released data on hate crimes in Tennessee, CLICK HERE.

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