MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There is a legitimate local debate to be had about whether Memphis public safety employees should no longer be required to live inside Shelby County. A compelling case can be made either way.
But once again, the state legislature is poised to intervene in a local issue with a new law that would forbid residency requirements. So the city council has put on hold a referendum that would allow police and fire fighters to live within a 50 mile radius of the city. The council had scheduled the first of three votes on the referendum this week.
I get it that police chief Cerelyn C.J. Davis and Mayor Jim Strickland favor relaxing the residency rules. They want to hire more officers, and the pool of candidates is severely limited if only county residents are allowed to apply. Personally, I believe Davis and Strickland make a persuasive case – so long as adequate vetting and training remain in place to weed out potential officers with any sort of bias against the city.
But the argument should not be completely dismissed that officers who enforce laws in Memphis neighborhoods should be familiar with those neighborhoods – including the nuances of inner-city policing.
I’m just not convinced that a healthy debate will occur in the legislature, where most lawmakers have already shown they don’t really care what Memphis residents wants. Nevertheless, we’ll have to see how this plays out in Nashville.