NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Preliminary reports show crime in Davidson County climbed in 2022, with over 100 homicides reported in the county by the last week of December.

While a few types of crime dropped, violent offenses were overall up 4.7% compared to the previous year, according to unofficial reports in the Metro Nashville Police Department’s weekly crime initiative book.

The report prepared by the Metro Nashville Police Department Crime Analysis Section provides data on part one offenses, including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson.

According to the MNPD, “these serious crimes” are the focus of police activity. Arson offenses in Davidson County are not included in public MNPD Uniform Crime Reports because those offenses are investigated by the Nashville Fire Department.

Although the data is reviewed by the MNPD for accuracy and completeness, it does not reflect official counts. Data submitted to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation through the state’s Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System is typically released in July.

The preliminary data available to the public shows that part one offenses in Davidson County increased by about 6.1% in 2022. The latest numbers are from Jan. 1 to Dec. 24.

Homicide up 7.1% compared to same time last year

The largest increase was in auto theft, which rose about 10% from 2021 with a total of 3,238 incidents reported this year. The second largest increase was in aggravated assault at 9.5%, followed by a 7.1% increase in homicide.

As of Dec. 24, there had been 106 homicides reported in Davidson County—seven more than were reported by the same date last year. The highest number of homicides reported to date was 113 in 2020, according to the report.

However, prior to 2017, the homicide rate remained under 100 each year.

This year was the third year there had been over 100 homicides reported in Davidson County by Dec. 24. It was an 82.8% increase compared to just 10 years ago when there were only 58 homicides reported.

A large portion of homicides this year were gun-related, with at least 85 involving gunshot wounds—a 14.9% increase from last year when there were 74 homicides associated with guns. Only a small fraction of homicides were domestic-related at about 12.3%.

Homicides up 200% in Madison, down 40.7% in North Nashville

The areas in which homicides were reported also fluctuated. The MNPD’s north precinct previously had one of the highest rates of homicides with 27 reported last year. However, in 2022, there was a 40.7% decrease with only 16 homicides reported in the area.

Meanwhile, homicides in the MNPD’s Madison precinct rose 200% with six reported in 2021 and 18 reported this year. According to the MNPD, the top five areas for violent crime in 2022 were in parts of Hermitage, Madison and Midtown.

The total number of violent offenses this year was up 14.8% from 2017 and 16.7% from 2012. Property offenses were also up 6.6% from last year.

However, there were a few crimes that appeared to decrease. The number of rapes reported to the MNPD decreased 2.7% from last year, dropping from 523 in 2021 to 509 in 2022. Robbery was also down about 11.4%.

The largest decrease was in commercial robbery, which went down in nearly every precinct, with the exceptions being MNPD’s east and north precincts. Overall, commercial robbery dropped 20% this year. Street robbery was down about 9.9% from last year.