BS Summary: This article contains 17 faulty reasoning types, including Optimism Bias, Availability Heuristic, and Confirmation Bias, with Anchoring Bias as the most egregious example at 17% saturation with 127 hits. Analysis detected 646 faulty-reasoning hits from 747 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 32.3% and a BS Rank of 17% (18,321 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 83.70% of the article peer group.
Crime in Memphis has continued its precipitous decrease through the first half of the year, data from the Memphis-Shelby County Crime Commission indicates.
Compared to the same time frame in 2025, Memphis' overall crime has dropped 23.8%, while the murder rate has dropped 41.1%.
However, simple assaults and drug violations have increased.
Overall crime in the city has reached its lowest point since 2020 and is far lower than it was in 2011, according to the Crime Commission's data.
The trend has been part of a three-year decrease in crime that began after it peaked in 2023.
The Crime Commission uses preliminary data from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and releases quarterly crime reports, which date back to 2011.
Both crime rates from 2025 and 2026 show improvements, which have not been seen in the last 25 years.
Current reports also show a decrease in property crime.
A look at the stats
The Memphis Police Department sends its own incidents to TBI for data collection.
The overall crime statistic, which has dropped 23.8%, includes all Group A offenses, which are the major crimes tracked by TBI.
The Crime Commission also breaks its crime statistics into two specific categories: major violent crime and major property crime.
The major violent crime group include all reported murders, rapes, aggravated assaults and robberies.
The major property crime includes reported burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts.
Every category of reported major violent and property crime has seen marked declines compared to 2025:
* The reported murder rate was 11.8 murders per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 72) through the first half of 2026.
It fell from 20 murders per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 122) in 2025, a 41.1% decrease.
* The reported rape rate was 20.6 per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 126) through the first half of 2026.
It fell from 31.2 rapes per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 190) in 2025, a 33.8% decrease.
* The reported aggravated assault rate was 635 aggravated assaults per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 3,877) through the first half of 2026.
It fell from 898.2 aggravated assaults per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 5,476) in 2025, a 29.3% decrease.
* The reported robbery rate was 78.9 robberies per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 482) through the first half of 2026.
It fell from 139.9 robberies per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 853) in 2025, a 43.6% decrease.
* The reported burglary rate was 251.9 burglaries per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 1,538) through the first half of 2026.
It fell from 351.8 burglaries per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 2,145) in 2025, a 28.4% decrease.
* The reported theft rate was 1,220.4 thefts per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 7,451) through the first half of 2026.
It fell from 1,931.3 thefts per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 11,774) in 2025, a 36.8% decrease.
* The reported motor vehicle theft rate was 230.5 motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 1,407) through the first half of 2026.
It fell from 583.8 motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 Memphians (a total of 3,559) in 2025, a 60.5% decrease.
Despite large improvements in crime categories compared to last year, simple assaults and drug violations are up a respective 4.3% and 19.6% compared to last year.
Still, the total Group A offenses reported through the first six months of the year are far fewer than in years past.
There has been a 23.8% decrease in total crime compared to the first half of 2025 and a 41% decrease compared to the first half of 2023, when Memphis crime peaked and reached near-record highs.
This year's crime rate sets Memphis on the path to having its lowest crime rate in 26 years, for the second year in a row.
TBI started publishing annual crime statistics for all law enforcement departments in Tennessee in 2010.
Since that year, Memphis' lowest Group A crime rate was 14,625.6 offenses per 100,000 residents in 2025, according to early numbers from the Crime Commission.
Official crime statistics from 2025 have not yet been published by the TBI.
However, official TBI numbers show the next-lowest overall crime rate for Memphis was in 2015 when the city reported 14,843 crimes per 100,000 residents.
Lucas Finton covers crime, policing, jails, the courts and criminal justice policy for The Commercial Appeal.
He can be reached by phone or email: (901)208-3922 and Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, and followed on X @LucasFinton.
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