Study: AR, MS, TN among states most at-risk for burglaries

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Arkansas is the second most at-risk state for home burglaries, and Mississippi and Tennessee aren’t far behind, according to one new study.

The Omega Law Group says New Mexico tops the list with the most break-ins, Mississippi comes in ninth, and Tennessee comes in eleventh.

The California personal injury law firm gathered data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) ‘Crime in the United States annual reports.’ The researchers looked at the total number of burglaries or breaking and entering crimes in each state between 2018 and 2022.

In New Mexico, the average number of residential burglaries was 646 per 100,000 people, in Arkansas it was 532 per 100,000, in Mississippi 375 per 100,000 and in Tennessee 361 per 100,000.

The Omega group said the FBI’s most recent crime data showed that in 2022, the U.S. yearly average of burglaries was 269.8 per 100,000 people.

Victims of a recent home burglary in the Bethel Grove area weren’t surprised to learn Tennessee was in the top eleven.

“Crime has gotten so bad. I don’t even want to watch the news anymore,” said a woman who did not want to be identified.

She said at least three people broke into her sister’s house on Kimball Avenue while they were out of town and took around $30,000 worth of items.

They took my niece’s shoes, underwear, laptops, jewelry, purses, and candles my sister makes” she said.

Police released video of two of the burglars walking through her sister’s house just a couple of hours after they left. She believes the thieves were watching them and said the break-in has shaken everyone’s sense of security.

“My mother lived her thirty-five years, and no one ever broke into her house,” she said.

When it comes to the state with the lowest number of burglaries, Pennsylvania came in last with just 80 per year per 100,000 residents.

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