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Crime Update:
Memphis City Crime Update: January 1 to November 2009
From January 1 to the end of November 2009, overall crime was down 17.1% including a drop in violent crime by 14.3% and a drop in property crime by 17.6% across the City of Memphis, when compared to the same time period in 2006.
Shelby County Sheriff's Office Crime Update: January 1 to November 2009
From January 1 to the end of November 2009, overall crime was down 2% including a drop in violent crime by 4.1% and a drop in auto theft by 21.4% across Shelby County when compared to the same time period in 2006.
Implementation of the strategic initiative to reduce crime, Operation: Safe Community began in 2006. Crime statistics and updates are systematically compared to 2006 as a benchmark for success towards full implementation of the 5-year plan.
To view the full Part I Crime Trends report for January 1 - November 30 from 2006-2009 administered by The University of Memphis and the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission please click here.
Operation: Safe Community Strategy Highlights
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Strategy 1: Deploy police officers based upon sound data and research.
Team Leaders: Mark Luttrell, Sheriff, Shelby County and Larry A. Godwin, Director, Memphis Police Dept.
Highlights: The MPD now has approximately 2,250 officers and is on target to reach the OSC goal of 2,600 by the end of 2011. The MPD’s Automatic License Plate Reader program is in place and funding has been secured to expand to the Sheriff’s Office. ALPRs detect vehicles of interest, gang members, known felons, expired tags and sex offenders among others within its field of view.
Strategy 2: Expand the Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) law enforcement partnership model in Shelby County.
Team Leader: Larry Laurenzi, U.S. Attorney
Highlights: Safe Streets Task Force is continuing to expand and add officers. As a result of PSN, armed robberies of businesses are down 25% and armed carjackings are down 34.6% since July 2008.
Strategy 3: Toughen state laws for gun crime.
Team Leaders: John DeBerry, State Representative and Mark Norris, State Senator
Highlights: Significant progress has been made over the past three years. However, the fiscal note process has been a major impediment. Plans are underway to continue aggressive legislative education by citizens during the second session of Tennessee’s 106th General Assembly in January 2010.
Strategy 4: Reduce the caseload per prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office for more effective prosecution.
Team Leaders: Mike Carpenter, County Commissioner, Shelby and Jim Kyle, State Senator
Highlights: Of the 24 additional prosecutor positions called for under the OSC plan, 10 have been funded. Of the 10, 3 have been funded by the state, 6 by Shelby County and 1 using federal funds provided through MPD.
Strategy 5: Expand Drug Court program so that it operates consistently and at full capacity.
Team Leader: Joe Ford, Mayor, Shelby County and Mark Luttrell, Sheriff, Shelby County
Highlights: Mayor Ford and Sheriff Luttrell assumes co-team leadership on Strategy 5 in December. An aggressive Drug Court Treatment Program is currently providing services for 285 non-violent drug offenders. Currently, participants in the program have a 33% recidivism rate, compared to 82% of comparable drug offenders not participating.
Strategy 6: Design and implement a comprehensive gang intervention strategy.
Team Leader: Prof. Richard Janikowski, Associate Professor and Director of C3R, University of Memphis
Highlights: SAFEWAYS is an intelligence-led policing strategy to suppress violent and gang crime within apartment complexes. Through an ongoing partnership with complex managers, owners, MPD, and the D.A.’s office, the SAFEWAYS pilot is currently being implemented in Autumn Ridge and Kensington Apartments.
Strategy 7: Sustain and expand student safety initiatives in public school systems.
Team Leaders: Dr. Kriner Cash, Superintendent, Memphis City Schools and John Aitken, Superintendent, Shelby County Schools
Highlights: Every middle and high school in the Memphis City School system has at least one police officer. MCS has also established four truancy assessment centers and a truancy hotline (416-8111).
Strategy 8: Implement mentoring-based truancy reduction program.
Team Leader: Harold Collins, District Attorney General's Office
Highlights: The District Attorney General’s Office in partnership with Memphis City Schools has implemented a truancy reduction mentoring program in eight middle schools. The program currently has 74 children paired with mentors from Memphis’ business community and is continuing to seek more mentors.
Strategy 9: Launch the JustCare 180° program to “turnaround” youth charged with unruly and delinquent offenses.
Team Leader: Judge Curtis Person, Memphis and Shelby County Juvenile Court
Highlights: Tennessee Voices for Children is currently overseeing two pilot initiatives of JustCare 180o in coordination with the Lemoyne-Owen College Community Development Corporation and Southeast Memphis Community Development Corporation.
Strategy 10: Expand juvenile offender re-entry programs.
Team Leader: Steve Hornsby, Deputy Commissioner of Juvenile Justice, TN Dept. of Children’s Services
Highlights: "Project Restoring Community” will launch in early 2010 and utilize restorative justice principles. The pilot initiative will be administered at Wilder Youth Development Center and serve approximately ten juveniles returning to the Memphis area each month.
Strategy 11: Expand and coordinate adult offender re-entry programs.
Team Leaders: A C Wharton, Mayor, City of Memphis and Charles Traughber, Chairman, TN Board of Probation and Parole
Highlights: The 3R Project launched in 2007 at the Shelby County Corrections Center (SCCC) to rehabilitate, renew and reconnect former inmates with the community. Plans are currently underway to establish a transitional center at the SCCC for former state inmates returning to the Memphis area.
Strategy 12: Implement proactive and coordinated “problem properties” system.
Team Leader: A C Wharton, Mayor, City of Memphis
Highlights: Mayor Wharton assumed leadership on Strategy 12 in December. The Neighborhood Preservation Act enables Memphis homeowners to sue owners of residential property of unoccupied residences when the property condition is negatively affecting property values. The Act was strengthened in 2009 allowing the court to award reasonable attorney’s fees to the party filing suit.
Strategy 13: Build communications campaign that promotes tough consequences for crime.
Team Leader: Shea Flinn, Councilman, Memphis
Highlights: An aggressive marketing campaign has been underway since winter 2008. The campaign includes television commercials, radio spots, transit, billboards, cinema and Hispanic print advertisement. Focus groups are currently being conducted to measure the effectiveness of the campaign in efforts to maintain the strongest messaging for potential offenders.
Strategy 14: Implement coordinated domestic violence initiative.
Team Leaders: Reid Hedgepeth, Councilman, Memphis and Deidre Malone, County Commissioner, Shelby
Highlights: The Shelby County Domestic Violence Court recently opened in General Sessions Criminal Court Division 10 to provide consistent and effective prosecution under presiding Judge Lee Wilson. Vertical prosecution is being utilized in the domestic violence court ensuring one prosecutor handles the case from start to finish.
Strategy 15: Implemented “Operation Safe Surrender.”
Highlights: In 2006 the U.S. Marshal and New Salem Missionary Baptist Church implemented the four-day initiative resulting in 1,717 warrants and reducing outstanding warrants by 4.6%.
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Operation: Safe Community is featured monthly on WREG Channel 3's "Live at Nine" hosted by Mary Beth Conley and Alex Coleman.
Executive Director of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission, Linda K. Miller, will be the guest this month on Tuesday, December 29th.
Ms. Miller will provide the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County with key accomplishments and updates on some of the 14 remaining strategies of OSC.
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