Tennessee Tech Sees Decrease In Reported Crime

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported a decrease in reported crime at Tennessee Technological University.

Tennessee Tech Police Chief Tony Nelson said the small community of Cookeville helps keep reported crime down.

“Across the board here at the university, we were down about 33 percent, which is a little bit higher than the state average. But I think there is a lot of things that go into that,” Nelson said. “The outstanding efforts of the men and women of the department and their work to maintain a safe environment here for our students. We get a great deal of support from the community as well as our students, faculty, and staff.”

The report indicates that the university had 57 Larceny and Theft Offenses and 19 Drug and Narcotic Violations reported in 2018.

“We would love to see those numbers go down even further. You know, we did have a decrease in those from 2017 to 2018,” Nelson said. “But any of those offenses are still one too many. That is kind of the way we operate and look at it.”

Nelson said programs implemented on campus help reduce the reports of drug violations.

“We have the Dean of Students here who has them go through a counseling session just to make them aware of the dangers of using alcohol and drugs,” Nelson said. “So I think programs like that, the counseling center here working with folks, all of that I think ties into the community effort.”

Nelson said the campus police department take the report’s data into account when monitoring the campus.

“And we try to go about our day to day operations of addressing these areas we feel need to be looked at closer,” Nelson said. “So something like the Larceny and theft, we have implemented foot patrols.”

The TBI reported a decrease in campus crime across the state in their early Crime on Campus Report.