According to the new numbers from TBI, gang related crimes rose by nearly 25 percent across the state in 2011.
The Tennessean reports that since 2005, gang-related crimes have more than doubled. Those statistics show it isn't places like Knoxville, Memphis, or Nashville that have been affected the most.
Instead, the numbers show small towns are becoming incubators of gang violence.
According to investigators, cities with fewer than 50,000 residents have seen gang crime more than triple since 2005.