MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis city councilmembers, local and state officials, and Memphis law enforcement all met Thursday night to discuss ways to decrease crime.
Ironically, at the same time that leaders gathered at First Baptist Church on Broad Ave. sharing ways to better manage increasing crime in the city, two Memphis police officers were shot while responding to an armed person call in Whitehaven near the 1200 block of East Raines Rd.
The meeting was quickly halted. Both officers and the suspect were transported to Regional One Hospital in critical condition.
The shooting in Whitehaven was one of several jarring crimes this week. Just Wednesday, March 29, two separate shootings at Cru Lounge and Prive restaurant shook the city, leaving a total of two people dead and nine people injured .
Talking points at the crime summit
Memphis Police Department has been nothing short of busy. At the crime summit, Chief C. J. Davis said MPD is working to tackle the increase in violent crimes.
MPD Assistant Chief Don Crowe pointed out that there have been more homicides in February and March of this year compared to last year. The Shelby County Crime Commission reports that murders have increased by 11%, and there is a 3.5% increase in gun related crimes.
Assistant Chief Crowe said Tennessee's newly passed permit-less carry law does not help MPD's efforts to manage violent crimes, adding more fuel to the fire. He said permit-less carry laws make it more likely for incidents to quickly escalate after an argument or fight.
According to Assistant Chief Crowe, several law enforcement agencies were against lighter gun laws, despite the bills passing.
Chief Davis said the department is also working to reduce retail and car thefts.
The Crime Commission reports a 12.7% increase in overall crime when comparing 2021 January to March crime rates to current YTD crime rates, with property crime leading the way with a 26.9% overall increase.
Despite these increases, comparison crime rates show that there is a 5% decrease in major violent crimes.
Juvenile crime
Juvenile crime still remains high up on law enforcement's radar. State and local officials discussed ways to increase consequences for repeat juvenile offenders.
Currently, juveniles have their criminal records expunged before reentering the community after they age out of the juvenile system.
Tennessee Sen. Brent Taylor said he wants to add a caveat to the current juvenile process that blends sentencing for recent and previous crimes.
Sen. Taylor suggested that this caveat would require juveniles who repeat offend after aging out of the system to be put on trial for their recent and previous crimes, and potentially serve time in prison.
Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon claimed juveniles are not the leaders of violent crimes in Memphis. Judge Sugarmon said juveniles only make up 10% of violent crimes.
ABC24 is working to confirm those claims. The Shelby County Crime Commission reports that when comparing January to March 2022 to 2021 crime rates from the same time period, there is a 6.1% increase in serious juvenile charges and a 23.3% increase in delinquent juvenile charges.
Statistics provided by the crime commission don't specify what crimes juveniles are being more frequently charged with, and based on the statistics, it cannot be determined that juveniles are being charged with more violent crimes this year when compared to last year.
Judge Sugarmon said that although he is in favor of Sen. Taylor's blended sentencing bill proposal for juveniles, detention does not help with rehabilitation.
Judge Sugarmon said the juvenile system needs to adopt a process that allows juveniles who successfully age out of the system to smoothly reenter the community, giving them access to resources and support. He also said he wants to put talk of the juvenile system being a revolving door to rest.
Although elected officials and law enforcement are actively working to address crime in the city, they are being stretched thin with back to back violent incidents.
