In Nashville, Tennessee, there are fewer homicides, more rapes and carjackings

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – There is a bright spot in the Metro Nashville Police Department’s latest crime analysis report. However, there were also some worrying trends in the data.

According to Tuesday’s report, murders in Music City are down about 27% year-over-year, reflecting nationwide trends in murder rates.

But while violent crimes fell overall, car thefts and rapes increased.

At his weekly media roundtable, Mayor Freddie O’Connell said that while car thefts have increased compared to last year, MNPD has seen improvement in the last few months since launching its initiative to investigate car thefts.

“Since this initiative began in February, (we are) are starting to see downward pressure on the auto theft process,” O’Connell said.

From mid-March to last weekend, 259 fewer cars were stolen in that 16-week period than in the same period last year.

As for the 20 percent increase in rapes, Mayor O’Connell said he asked MNPD Chief John Drake what was causing the problem.

“Is this about a change in reporting? Do you know there’s more? “Did we go through a time when people didn’t report incidents and that’s over?” O’Connell asked theoretically. “(MNPD) will come back to us, but it’s definitely a big problem.”

O’Connell said his government had invested in the Office of Family Safety to improve the response to crime victims.

“I want to make sure everyone is aware of not only the police efforts, but also the resources that are available on the other side of crime to make sure everyone is taken care of,” he said.