This past November, FBI Director James Comey made a special mention of the work being done by the Nashville Field Office in regards to their use of the National Incident Based Reporting System. The NIBRS is database designed to show which areas of the country are showing increases, decreases or a leveling off of criminal activity. It does not provide any rewards, so to speak, for its use, but it does allow the FBI to see odd patterns of behaviors. For example, ABC News 2 reported that the data entered in the NIBRS showed that “Nashville has already outpaced its number of murders and when it comes to teen deaths the city has had 16 teenagers, 19 years old or younger, murdered this year.”

This statistic seems to be part of a larger trend of increasing instances of violent crimes – instances which are being reported through the NIBRS. But Director Comey also pointed out the role that viral videos have played over the last year in “making police officers more cautious about proactive policing.” So it is entirely possible that this increase in violent crime is not much of an increase at all: instead, it’s the outcome of more incidents being made public, therefore forcing law enforcement officials to report incidents that may have otherwise gone unreported.

The benefits of body and dash cams

Tennessee is hardly alone in this regard. The latest news out of Chicago, along with incidents over the last year in New York and Missouri, have shown us all just how dangerous the world can be. The Memphis Police Department has already started training their officers to use dashcams, body cams and GPS units, which will be automatically activated when an officer turns the light son in the patrol car. Law enforcement already uses them here in Sevierville, which means it cannot be far behind in Pigeon Forge or in Gatlinburg, either.

These videos are beneficial to everyone, because they may offer incontrovertible evidence whenever an incident allegedly takes place. The Huffington Post reported in October that people tend to behave better when they are on camera, which means both civilians accused of crimes and law enforcement officials alike are less likely to suffer a violent attack.

Whether or not Tennessee has become a more violent place, or violence is just being officially reported more often, may take a while to determine; the data has to be collected and collate first. Still, we are happy to see so many PDs around the state implement new technologies designed to keep everyone safe, so long as they follow the proper procedures in recording and documenting those vidoes.

Delius & McKenzieoffers comprehensive criminal defense to people throughout Tennessee. If you were arrested or are facing charges in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg or Sevierville, our defense lawyer want to hear from you. Please contact us for more information.