MEMPHIS, Tenn — The president of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission, which tracks crime trends and data, called the new single-year high for homicides in Memphis, “unacceptable.”
“We need a sense of urgency to do something about it,” Bill Gibbons said. “We, to a large degree, know what we need to do.”
When asked why this continues to happen, Gibbons said Memphis — and other cities like it — have problems with cultures of violence and that these are made worse by easy access to guns and retaliatory shootings.
“If you go back 10 years, less than half of reported violent crimes in the city of Memphis involved fire arms,” he says. “Now, we’re close to 80 percent.”
This is the third time in Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s eight years in office that Memphis set a single-year record for homicides (2023, 2021, 2016).
This is also be the second time a new homicide record was set under Police Chief C.J. Davis, who took over the Memphis Police Department in June 2021.
One of Gibbons solutions is something Memphians have heard before.
“We do not have adequate police officers to staff our investigative bureaus,” he says. “Also, we have an insufficient number of police officers to saturate crime hot spots.”
Gibbons says there's also action needed at the state level.
“Under our current state law, someone could be convicted, say of a drive-by shooting in a neighborhood, and get probation,” he said. “Not spend a single day in prison.”
He said that includes restoring the state’s handgun carry permit system.
“Proper training and a background check before you can openly or concealed carry a gun in public,” Gibbons says.
ABC24 reached out to both the Memphis Police Department and Memphis Mayor's Office for interviews on the new homicide numbers. MPD said that no one was available Monday and the mayor’s office has yet to respond.
Tuesday, MPD will be presenting its safety preparations for the end of the year, as well as an update on the Downtown and Community crime plans to the Memphis City Council’s Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee.