KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Police Department released its latest annual report on Tuesday, analyzing crime trends throughout 2023 and discussing steps the police department took to address ongoing issues across the city.
It said in 2023, there was a 33% drop in the overall number of murders compared to the previous year. More specifically there was a 54% drop in KPD's East District, down to 11 murders in 2023 compared to 24 the years before. KPD said most of the murders reported in Knoxville were by gunshots.
However, the overall number of shootings also decreased by 12% in 2023. It said 76 shootings were reported over the entire year, down from 86 shootings in 2022. The report said property crime also decreased by around 15% in 2023 compared to the previous year, including a 34% drop in vehicle burglaries and an 11% drop in vehicle thefts.
"Several factors contributed to the reduction, including the re-organization of the Field Operations Bureau and re-establishment of the Central District, which expanded the number of districts from two to three," the report said. "The department also started its shift to a problem-solving policing model, spearheaded by the Community Partnership Officers assigned to each district."
The Central District covers much of the downtown Knoxville area, and the report said officers working in it focused on reducing "order maintenance and persistent quality of life issues." Those issues included "aggressive panhandling, excessive noise, public intoxication and indecency."
The report said early in 2023, KPD implemented a standalone homicide unit meant to improve collective response, effectiveness and efficiency by dedicating as many resources as possible to investigations. It's solely responsible for investigating homicide, suspicious deaths suicides and non-fatal shootings with a victim.
KPD also said it worked with the Office of Community Safety and Empowerment, Turn Up Knox and other community groups on violence reduction strategies. Meanwhile, the Community Engagement Response Team spent the year focusing on known violent offenders while engaging with the community.
The report also discussed the city's co-responder program, a partnership between KPD and the McNabb Center that pairs officers with mental health workers on calls involving people experiencing a mental health crisis. It said in 2023, the program responded to more than 1,100 calls and only made four arrests. Most calls resulted in people being taken to the hospital for medical care or being given resources, the report said.
KPD said the number of "persons crimes," including assault and manslaughter, reported over the year was 4,498 — an increase of 6%. Most of that increase was from aggravated assault calls, with 989 reported over the last year, according to the report.
It also said 8,849 property crimes were reported in 2023, down from more than 10,300 in 2022.
The report also said 45 fatal crashes were reported in 2023, and increase of 12 compared to the previous year.
"Pedestrians are really reliant on the infrastructure and on other people to keep them safe when they're out," said Zoe Scott, the Advocacy Director with Bike Walk Knoxville. "Speed is so closely linked to the severity of a crash, especially involving a cyclist or pedestrian."
If a car hits a pedestrian going 45 miles per hour, they only have a 35% chance of survival.
Most of the crashes happened in the East District of the city, which goes from Fountain City to Holston Hills. The least amount happened in the Central District, from the University of Tennessee campus area to south of Chapman Highway.
"Our most dangerous streets are our major arterials — it's those roadways that see a lot of use not only for cars but also for pedestrians, also for cyclists," Scott said.
The report also said KPD's new Office of Professional Standards conducted 30 investigations into reports of possible misconduct or policy violations, and nine were still pending at the end of 2023. Five of the closed cases resulted in suspension, two resulted in termination and one resulted in demotion.
In 2023, KPD also moved headquarters into the Public Safety Complex following the completion of the project. The complex is shared by other first responder agencies, such as the E-911 center and the fire department.
KPD also said it had 342 sworn staff at the end of 2023, and 97 non-sworn staff. It brought on 39 public safety recruits, four lateral recruits, 16 police officer recruits, 15 cadets and 16 professional support staff in 2023.
"Recruitment and staffing continued to be a challenge in 2023, and our department has taken numerous, proactive steps to improve our hiring and recruitment efforts. That included significant alterations to the hiring process to make it more contemporary, efficient and fair while removing unnecessary barriers for employment. Recruitment and retention will remain a major focus for our leadership team in 2024," the report said.