gang injunction – Memphis Flyer

D.A. Amy Weirich announces latest gang injunction

The city’s third gang injunction was announced during a press conference this afternoon outside Ridgecrest Apartments in Frayser.

According to the Shelby County District Attorney General’s office, both Ridgecrest and Greenbriar Apartments are places where members of FAM Mob, a Memphis-based street gang, frequent.

A court-approved nuisance injunction now declares both apartment complexes “Safety Zones,” which bans FAM Mob members from publicly associating together, intimidating or assaulting witnesses to gang activity, possessing guns, distributing narcotics, and partaking in other forms of criminal activity within them.

The gang injunction follows a two-year investigation conducted by the Multi-Agency Gang Unit that documented FAM Mob members committing murders, assaults, robberies, kidnappings, and also drug trafficking.

This is the third court-approved Safety Zone created in Memphis.

In September 2013, the city’s first-ever gang injunction was issued against the Riverside Rollin’ 90’s Crips in South Memphis. A safety zone was established against the gang in a 4.6-mile radius bordered by South Parkway, West Mallory, I-55, and Florida.

According the District Attorney General’s office, police calls for service at Riverside were down 28 percent and police reports were down 48 percent since the injunction’s enforcement.

In October, a Safety Zone was established north of the city’s Medical District. Bound by Jackson, I-240, Poplar, and North Danny Thomas, the zone was identified by law enforcement as the primary boundary in which the Dixie Homes Murda Gang operated.

Stats are not yet available for the Dixie Homes area injunction.

Members of the Dixie Homes Murda Gang (also known as the 47 Neighborhood Crips) will no longer be able to publicly congregate in an area just north of the Medical District thanks to a court-issued gang injunction.

Monday afternoon, representatives from West Tennessee’s Multi-Agency Gang Unit and other law enforcement agencies gathered in front of Byrd’s Grill (298 Decatur Street), an identified meeting location for the violent collective, for a press conference announcing the gang injunction.

The general boundaries of the newly created “Safety Zone” include I-240 on the east, Jackson Avenue on the north, North Danny Thomas on the west, and Poplar Avenue to the south.

The injunction prohibits the gang from associating in public, intimidating or assaulting witnesses to gang activity, possessing guns, and partaking in various other forms of illicit activity within the vicinity of the Safety Zone. If a member is caught violating the injunction’s terms, he or she can be arrested.

According to the Multi-Agency Gang Unit, there are several children’s health care and medical facilities, an elementary school, and a lodging facility for families with children who are receiving medical treatment in the immediate vicinity of the Safety Zone.

Residents in the Safety Zone have reported frequent shootings, fighting, drug sales, and gambling, while area hospitals have said patients and their families feel unsafe leaving at night because of loitering and harassment.

The first-ever gang injunction in Shelby County was issued in September 2013 against the Riverside Rollin’ 90’s Neighborhood Crips in South Memphis’ Riverside area.