That's a higher rate than 94% of US Sheriff Departments.
We obtained data on 94 Tennessee sheriff's departments.
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Sheriff's Department
Shelby County
Scorecard at a Glance
Average for 4 Sections: 29%
Scores range from 0-100% comparing counties with 100-250k population. Counties with higher scores spend less on policing, use less force, are more likely to hold officers accountable and make fewer arrests for low-level offenses.
Worse
50th Percentile
Better
| Police Funding: 14% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police Budget Cost per Person | ||||
| Misconduct Settlements | ||||
| Fines/Forfeitures | ||||
| Police Presence/Over-Policing (Officers per Population) | ||||
| Police Violence: 36% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Force Used per Arrest | ||||
| Deadly Force per Arrest | ||||
| Unarmed Victims of Deadly Force per Arrest | ||||
| Racial Disparities in Deadly Force | ||||
Worse
50th Percentile
Better
| Police Accountability: 22% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Misconduct Complaints Upheld | ||||
| Excessive Force Complaints Upheld | ||||
| Discrimination Complaints Upheld | ||||
| Criminal Misconduct Complaints Upheld | ||||
| Approach to Law Enforcement: 44% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrest Rate for Low Level Offenses | ||||
| Homicides Solved | ||||
| Racial Disparities in Drug Arrests | ||||
| Jail Incarceration Rate | ||||
| Jail Deaths per 1,000 | ||||
Key Findings
10 Killings by Police
139 civilian complaints of police misconduct
12% were ruled in favor of civilians from 2020.
17,599 arrests made
46% of all arrests were for low-level, non-violent offenses from 2013-21.
Police Funding i
Section Score: 14%
Police Funding By Year
$181.62M | 125,947 Residents | $1.43k per Resident
More Police Funding per Capita than 97% of Depts
Source: US Census Bureau
Number of officers per 1k population
681 Officers | 54.1 per 10k Residents
More Officers per Population than 97% of Depts
Source: Federal LEOKA Database
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Deadly Force
10 Killings by Police from 2013-21 | 5.7 every 10k arrests
^ More Killings by Police per Arrest than 94% of Depts
Source: Mapping Police Violence
Deadly Force by Armed Status
10% Unarmed | 40% Did Not Allegedly Have a Gun
Unarmed
Other
Alleged Gun
Vehicle
^ More Unarmed People Killed per Arrest than 85% of Depts
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Police Violence by Race
Black
Latinx
N.Am
API
Other
White
Population of Shelby County
Shelby County Sheriff's Dept Demographics
People Arrested
People Killed
^ More Racial Disparities in Deadly Force than 31% of Depts
Source: Uniform Crime Report, Mapping Police Violence, LEMAS
Total civilian complaints
139 from 2020 | 12% Ruled in Favor of Civilians
Complaints Not Sustained
Complaints Sustained
Use of Force Complaints
16 Reported | 6% Ruled in Favor of Civilians
Arrests By Year
17,599 Arrests Reported from 2013-2021
Low Level Arrests
Other Arrests
More Info
Arrests for Low Level Offenses
8,125 Arrests | 8 per 1k residents
^ Higher Arrest Rate for Low Level Offenses than 25% of Depts
Disparities in Arrests for Low Level Offenses by Race/Ethnicity
Black people were 3.8x more likely and Latinx people were 1x more likely to be arrested for low level, non-violent offenses than a white person.
Black
Latinx
White
Percent of total arrests by type
All Arrests for Low Level Offenses ( 46% )
Drug Possession ( 11% )
Violent Crime ( 9% )
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Homicides Unsolved
59 Homicides from 2013-21 | 15 Unsolved
^ Solved Fewer Homicides than 50% of Depts
Percent of Homicides Unsolved by Race
Homicides of Black Victims Unsolved ( 2% )
Homicides of Latinx Victims Unsolved ( 50% )
Homicides of White Victims Unsolved ( 11% )
Deaths in Jail
33 Deaths from 2013-19 | 12 per 1k Jail Population
Homicide Suicide Other Investigating
^ Higher Rate of Jail Deaths than 57% of Depts
Jail Incarceration rate
2,811 Avg Daily Jail Population | 23 per 1k residents
^ More than 99% of Sheriff's Depts
People in Jail Without Being Convicted
95 % of People in Jail
Tennessee Sheriff's Department Scores
Rankings are based upon a 0 to 100 percentage scale. Departments with higher scores use less force, make fewer arrests for low level offenses, solve murder cases more often, hold officers more accountable and spend less on policing overall.
Overall Scores for Depts where We Have Obtained the Most Data.
Tap "show more" to see extended list
* An asterisk indicates this location did not publish enough data to evaluate. Click below to add data to the Scorecard.
About This Scorecard
This is the first nationwide evaluation of policing in the United States. It was built using data from state and federal databases, public records requests to local police departments, and media reports. While police data is never perfect, and there are additional indicators that still need to be tracked, the Police Scorecard is designed to provide insight into many important issues in policing.
Police Scorecard is an independent 501(c)(3) organization, learn more about our team here. If you have feedback, questions about the project, or need support with an advocacy campaign, contact our Founder, Samuel Sinyangwe.
Use this Scorecard to identify issues within police departments that require the most urgent interventions and hold officials accountable for implementing solutions. For example, cities with higher rates of low level arrests could benefit most from solutions that create alternatives to policing and arrest for these offenses. In cities where police make fewer arrests overall but use more force when making arrests, communities could benefit significantly from policies designed to hold police accountable for excessive force. And cities where complaints of police misconduct are rarely ruled in favor of civilians could benefit from creating an oversight structure to independently investigate these complaints.
Here's how to start pushing for change
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Contact Your County Sheriff, share your scorecard with them and urge them to enact policies to address the issues you've identified:
Advocacy Tip: This state has a Police Bill of Rights law. These laws make it harder to hold police accountable. Call state legislators and tell them to repeal this law.
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Look up your state and federal representatives below, then tell them to take action to hold police accountable in your community.
Join a team of researchers, students, data scientists, activists and organizers working to collect, analyze and use data for justice and accountability.
Create data visualizations and content that raises awareness about solutions to the issues identified by the data.
What's Next
Step 1: COMPLETED
Obtain data on 100 California cities. Refine methodology in response to feedback from communities, researchers and local officials.
Step 2: COMPLETED
Expand to every major law enforcement agency in America and include additional indicators such as police budgets and jail incarceration.
Step 3: IN PROGRESS
Inform data-driven solutions nationwide. Update as new federal, state and local data are collected. Track progress and hold cities accountable to results.