MEMPHIS, Tenn. — State Senator Brent Taylor has sent a new letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, asking for a meeting to discuss hiring a consulting firm to seek solutions to the crime problem in Memphis. He also takes aim at groups in the city working on restorative justice.
In the letter sent Tuesday, May 28, 2024, Sen. Taylor (R-Memphis), called the city a “war zone,” and compared Memphis to Detroit: “a failed American city! Like Detroit, we will become a city with two very different populations: the extremely poor, who couldn’t afford to leave, and the extremely wealthy, who could afford the security required to stay. Memphis’ middle-class will be gone!”
Taylor’s letter said the crime issue may be more than the local government can deal with itself, and he wants the governor’s administration to contract with a public safety consulting firm to provide a plan to reduce crime in Memphis.
"We have been trying to this crime now for several years and our efforts have been as about as organized as a five-dollar bin at Walmart," Taylor said.
The letter highlighted a firm named Teneo, run by William Braton, the New York Police Commissioner under Rudy Giuliani’s administration when he was mayor of NYC.
“As I envision a possible relationship with Teneo, the firm would operate on-the-ground in Memphis with the full cooperation of the city administration, the sheriff, and police chief to assess current policies, procedures, and develop new strategies to tackle crime,” continued the letter.
Taylor told ABC24 on Tuesday he believes hiring Teneo is a great start to find the solutions to lowering crime in Memphis.
"Look we're never gonna completely eradicate crime, but we just have to get it down to a manageable level, and where we are is not a manageable level," he said.
Taylor’s letter also warned the governor to avoid what he called “restorative justice schemers” who operate as public safety consultants.
“In my opinion, organizations such as Just City, Decarcerate Memphis, Vera Institute of Justice, and Justice Innovation Lab do not share our Tennessee values. These out-of-state funded groups support restorative justice schemes which serve to ignore crime victims, defund our police, and advocate for cashless bail making Tennesseans less safe.”
ABC24 has reached out to the organizations for their reactions to the letter.
Just City responded: "Sen. Brent Taylor's latest letter again misrepresents the work of Just City and those doing the most to interrupt cycles of injustice and harm in our state. His proposals are unserious and would do nothing to address crime in our city. Instead of exploring legitimate policy solutions, Taylor continues to make boogeymen of advocates like us in order to score political points.
Just City values safety and justice for everyone, and we will not be defined or deterred by Sen. Taylor’s latest letter-writing stunt. We will continue to work tirelessly to make our city safer and more fair for everyone, as we have for the past nine years."
The Vera Institute of Justice of justice provided this statement: "Vera Institute was invited to Memphis by local organizations, like Decarcerate Memphis, that are led by directly-impacted people. Victims, community members, and advocates overwhelmingly want alternatives to incarceration. While police are an important part of keeping Memphis safe, they are not the only solution. Restorative justice is a solution that people want; by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, research shows that victims prefer the criminal legal system to focus more on rehabilitating people who commit crimes than punishing them. When Memphis city council passed the Tyre Nichols Act reprioritizing traffic stops to keep people safer and build community trust with police, state officials responded by passing legislation attempting to reverse it. Vera will continue to collaborate with local governments and support community demands for policies and practices that truly keep people safe."
State Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) also sent out a statement about Taylor's letter:
“Republican policies have flooded our streets with rapid-fire weapons of war and starved our families of the resources we need to address the root causes of crime. The only solutions Republican politicians want to endorse are to lock everybody up, shovel tax dollars at building jail cells, and then throw them back on the street.
“It’s not working. Yes, we need to hold criminals accountable, but, more importantly, we need to break the cycle of violence with initiatives that prevent crime before it happens. We should start by making sure this generation of kids isn’t falling through the cracks. Let’s invest in attainable housing, health care and mental health, better schools and better jobs. And let’s crack down on illegal guns and the people who supply criminals with firearms.
“This isn’t rocket science. When people’s basic needs are being met and you target illegal guns, crime goes down.”