MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) – I’m not going to lie to you. It is cold. I needto find something to warm me up.
What I need is a hot topic, like MPD & MFD residencyrequirements. That’ll do it.
And how.
What it is doing is putting at least one outspoken supporter ofresidency requirements up against one outspoken critic of residency requirements.
It’s getting personal too.
Just ask Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer.
“This is not about me being anti-police,” she says.“I support police doing their job and doing it well.”
Sawyer is upset with Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings. Rallingstold Memphis City Council members that people like Sawyer are out of touch withwhat the voters want.
He used the Memphis Mayor’s race and Jim Strickland’s victory asan example.
“If I recall,” Rallings said, “… 67% of thevoters voted for Mayor Strickland to support the agenda. 59,886. The people’scandidate had 6,060 votes. So y’all talk about politics.”
There was nothing subtle about his statement. Tami Sawyer was thecandidate for Mayor endorsed by the People’s Convention.
Mayor Jim Strickland wants to get rid of residency requirements tomake it easier to hire cops. Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner feels the sameway.
But Commissioner Sawyer says no residency requirements meanstrouble.
“It has been proven on a national level,” she said,“… when you bring people into communities they do not represent and donot have interactions with, the interactions become more dangerous for policeofficers and the people.”
Director Rallings says there are different studies with differentresults. He wants to let you folks decide on the November ballot.