Bedford County enjoyed a significant drop in the number of crimes reported to law enforcement in 2020, likely a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to one local law enforcement official, it appears that the decline was only temporary and crime numbers are climbing back up to normal in 2021.

In 2019, there were 918 offenses reported by the Bedford County Sheriff’s office. During 2020, there were 793 offenses reported to the sheriff’s office, a 13.6 percent drop from 2019.

In 2020, Shelbyville police say there were 1,837 crimes reported in their jurisdiction, down 10.39 percent from the year before when 2,050 crimes were logged.

Statewide, the percentage decline in the number of reported crimes was more modest. Compared to 2019, when there were 529,524 crimes reported to law enforcement in Tennessee, in 2020 there were 506,558 — a 4.33 percent drop.

Clearance rates for the Bedford County Sheriff’s office and Shelbyville police are above the state average. The Sheriff’s office cleared just under 49 percent of its cases in 2020 while Shelbyville’s clearance rate was 51.8 precent. The statewide average in 2020 was 41.58 percent. (See sidebar, ‘How a case is ‘cleared’ accompanying this article.)

The crime reporting system used by the state divides the more serious crimes (Group A Offenses) into three major categories: Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Property and Crimes Against Society.

**CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS

Crimes Against Persons includes murders, various types of manslaughter, kidnapping/abduction, rape and other sex crimes, assault, stalking, intimidation, commercial sex acts and involuntary servitude.

Crimes against persons handled by the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office declined from 438 in 2019 to 335 in 2020 — a drop of 26.6 percent.

Crimes against persons reported by Shelbyville police declined from 693 in 2019 to 666 in 2020 — a 3.97 percent drop.

Statewide, the number of Group A Offenses also dropped from 2019 to 2020 but the decline was only 0.8 percent — 146,243 in 2019 to 145,069 in 2020.

**CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY

The reporting system divides property crimes into 25 subcategories: Arson, bribery, burglary, counterfeiting/forgery, destruction/damage/vandalism, embezzlement, extortion/blackmail, seven categories of fraud, robbery, 9 categories of theft and stolen property offenses.

Overall, property crime in Bedford County and Shelbyville was down significantly in 2020 as compared with 2019 — down 13.2 percent in Shelbyville and 7.89 percent in the county.

**PROPERTY CRIME IN SHELBYVILLE

However, incidents of Destruction/Damage/Vandalism were up markedly in Shelbyville: from 147 to 175, a 17.39 percent increase from 2019 to 2020.

In one category of theft, “All Other Larceny,” the rate in Shelbyville was also increased from 2019, up 11.8 percent, from 135 incidents in 2019 to 152 in 2020.

Reports of burglary took a steep dive in Shelbyville from 2019 to 2020. In 2019, there were 107 reports of burglary; in 2020 there were 73, a decline of 31.77 percent.

Shoplifting reports also declined substantially from 2019 to 2020. In 2019 there were 197 reports of shoplifting; in 2020 there were 127 reports of shoplifting — a decline of 35.5 percent.

In Shelbyville, there were 15 reports of robbery in 2019. In 2020 the number of robberies was 8.

Other changes in theft in Shelbyville included:

• Motor vehicle theft in 2019 was 54; in 2020 it was 64.

• Theft from a Building: In 2019 there were 107 reports; in 2020 there were 76.

• Thefts from a motor vehicle (auto burglary) went from 59 in 2019 to 68 in 2020.

• Embezzlement went from 16 incidents in 2019 to just 2 in 2020.

**PROPERTY CRIME IN THE COUNTY

The numbers of property crimes in the county changed very little from 2019 to 2020. One of the few substantial changes was in the category of “Theft, All Other Larceny,” which in 2019 was 130 and in 2020 dropped by 16 percent to 109.

The number of motor vehicle thefts in the county went from 32 in 2019 to 38 in 2020.

**CRIMES AGAINST SOCIETY

Crimes Against Society includes animal cruelty, drug crimes, illegal gambling, pornography, prostitution and weapons law violations.

In Bedford County, the total number of reports of Crime Against Society went from 98 in 2019 to 105 in 2020. The main cause of the increase was a rise in Drug/Narcotic Equipment Violations (things like equipment to manufacture methamphetamine). In 2019 there were 20 such reports; in 2020 there were 32.

In Shelbyville, the number of Crimes Against Society, declined from 2019 to 2020. In 2019 there were 308 Crimes Against Society reported; in 2020 it was 252 — down 18.18 percent.

Shelbyville’s Crimes Against Society included:

• Animal Cruelty: 1 case in 2019, 2 cases in 2020

• Drug/Narcotic Violations: 173 in 2019, 135 in 2020

• Drug/Narcotic Equipment Violations: 106 in 2019, 90 in 2020

• Pornography/Obscene Material: 3 cases in 2019; 5 in 2020

• Prostitution: Five cases in 2019; 1 case in 2020.

• Prostitution Assisting/Promoting: 2 cases in 2020, none in 2019

• Purchasing Prostitution: 1 case in 2020, none in 2019

• Weapons Violations: 20 in 2019; 16 in 2020.

• The above report was produced using data from Crime in Tennessee reports produced every year by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The reports can be found online at https://www.tn.gov/content/tn/tbi/divisions/cjis-division/recent-publications.html

How a case is ‘cleared’

Law enforcement agencies define case clearance as follows.

**CLEARED BY ARREST

In the UCR Program, a law enforcement agency reports that an offense is cleared by arrest, or solved for crime reporting purposes, when three specific conditions have been met. The three conditions are that at least one person has been:

Arrested.

Charged with the commission of the offense.

Turned over to the court for prosecution (whether following arrest, court summons, or police notice).

In its clearance calculations, the UCR Program counts the number of offenses that are cleared, not the number of persons arrested. The arrest of one person may clear several crimes, and the arrest of many persons may clear only one offense. In addition, some clearances that an agency records in a particular calendar year, such as 2017, may pertain to offenses that occurred in previous years.

**CLEARED BY EXCEPTIONAL MEANS

In certain situations, elements beyond law enforcement’s control prevent the agency from arresting and formally charging the offender. When this occurs, the agency can clear the offense exceptionally. Law enforcement agencies must meet the following four conditions in order to clear an offense by exceptional means. The agency must have:

Identified the offender.

Gathered enough evidence to support an arrest, make a charge, and turn over the offender to the court for prosecution.

Identified the offender’s exact location so that the suspect could be taken into custody immediately.

Encountered a circumstance outside the control of law enforcement that prohibits the agency from arresting, charging, and prosecuting the offender.”

— Source: FBI