Crime

In Brentwood, you have a 1 in 1403 chance of becoming a victim of violent crime.  Violent crimes include murder, rape, robbery and assault.  With regards to property crime, you have a 1 in 107 chance of becoming a victim.  Property crimes  include burglary, theft and vehicle theft.  Source: https://areavibes.com/brentwood-tn/crime/.  A recent report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation indicates several types of crime increased in 2017 in Brentwood.  However, the overall number of crimes is still comparatively low for the City. 

Source: https://crimeinsight.tbl.tn.gov/tops/report/property-crimes/brentwood-police-department/2017. 

Compare Brentwood’s statistics to one of our neighboring communities Antioch, which is just fifteen miles away.  In Antioch the overall crime rate is 66% higher than the national average.  For every 100,000 people, there are 12.51 daily crimes that occur there.  Antioch is safer than 47% of the cities in Tennessee.  In Antioch you have a 1 in 22 chance of becoming a victim of any crime.  

Source: https://www.areavibes.com/nashville-tn/antioch/crime/. 

Antioch is not an incorporated city and the community is significantly older than Brentwood. Thus, there is not necessarily a direct correlation between the two places to live.  However, it should be noted Antioch is loaded with high density housing, affordable housing options and much lower property values.  A more realistic comparison to Brentwood is Franklin.  Franklin has an overall crime rate of 15 per 1,000 residents, making the crime rate near the average for all cities and towns of all sizes in America. According to the analysis of FBI crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of crime in Franklin is 1 in 65. 

Source: https://neighborhoodscout.com/nn/franklin/crime. 

Franklin has very limited zoning to control population growth.  They also have adopted a welcoming attitude toward mixed-use high density housing.  One can simply drive south on I65 and it is hard to miss all the apartment complexes going up on many corners.  Evaluating trends in crime is  difficult due to a number of variables.  It is likely much of the increase in Brentwood crime rates is due to population explosions in Nashville, Franklin and other surrounding areas.  Brentwood is a convenient target for criminals from nearby areas.  The Brentwood Police Department does and excellent job apprehending criminals when a crime is committed.  However, they are virtually powerless in preventing criminals from coming to our City before a crime is committed.  The worst thing Brentwood could possibly do relating to crime is follow examples of other nearby cities who welcome high density housing.  Such a policy would lower the price barrier to living in our City, and if taken to extremes would ultimately reduce home values.