MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Everyone who drives in and around Memphis knows the roadways can be often been part drag strip and part shooting gallery. For whatever reason, far too many people believe lawlessness is acceptable on our streets and highways. But it’s not. And law enforcement officials – along with Mayor Jim Strickland – are determined to put the brakes on roadway crimes.
Strickland, Police Chief C.J. Davis, and Sheriff Floyd Bonner have been seeking a bigger presence by the Tennessee Highway Patrol on interstates and state highways in the city and county. The mayor recently told the Daily Memphian that state Department of Safety officials have committed to adding up to 16 more troopers by next summer to patrol state and federal highways in and around the city.
Technically, the highway patrol is primarily responsible for policing those roadways. But the state has never assigned enough personnel to handle the job, which has mostly been left to Memphis police.
The extra help is sorely needed. People speed up and down the interstates with impunity. And shootings from one vehicle to another have been a dangerous plague over the past couple of years. It’s gotten so bad that many motorists simply avoid the interstates altogether.
The good news is, at least city and county officials are taking action to cut down on what is clearly a menace on our roadways. And the sooner the extra troopers arrive, the better.