MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Thursday, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office announced their upcoming partnership with the new Downtown Memphis Safety Plan.
The plan launched following the August 13 mass shooting on Beale Street at BB King and Peabody outside of Hooters. The incident damaged nearby buildings, including the Hampton Inn, and sent eight people to nearby hospitals.
After the first weekend of operations, the Memphis City Council unanimously passed a resolution to request the sheriff's office to join the Memphis Police and Downtown Memphis Commission plan permanently. During the city council meeting, Shelby County Sheriff and Memphis Mayoral candidate Floyd Bonner said the resolution was not necessary as the office was just waiting on a request from MPD.
As of August 24th's Frayser Exchange, the request has been made, and talk between the two departments is underway.
Bonner said these discussions are still in the beginning stages; however, a focus of them will be on communication.
If an emergency call is made within Memphis city limits, the call will likely be sent to MPD instead of the Sheriff's Office.
"It was just a need for an ask or request of what they needed," said Bonner, "We'll continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to get this done."
The new safety plan will resume every weekend starting on Fridays at 8 p.m.
Early data appears to be promising. The Memphis Public Safety Data Hub shows only six crimes were reported during the first weekend the plan was in effect, compared to 20 reports the previous weekend.