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Former MPD Officer Receives 11-Year Sentence for Raping College Student

Aaron Reinsberg

  • Aaron Reinsberg

A former Memphis police officer has been sentenced to 11 years in prison without parole for raping a Rhodes College student.

In January 2013, Aaron Reinsberg, 32, reportedly met the 21-year-old woman at a Beale Street nightspot, which she worked for part-time. The entertainment district in downtown Memphis was Reinsberg’s patrolling beat at the time.

The two exchanged phone numbers, and the victim went home. Reinsberg subsequently used his personal cellphone to access county law enforcement databases to find her home address, according to the Shelby County District Attorney General’s office.

The same night, Reinsberg traveled to the victim’s home and was allowed inside by her roommate. He was left alone with the woman in her bedroom.

The woman, who was inebriated, fell asleep while Reinsberg was in her room, according to reports. When she woke up, she was undressed and he was on top of her, raping her. Due to her intoxication, she was unable to resist Reinsberg during the incident.

Reinsberg, who joined the Memphis Police Department in 2011, has been convicted of raping the woman. This week, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison with no parole. The former officer was also sentenced to one year for official misconduct. The sentences will be served concurrently.

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News The Fly-By

Poplar Plaza Neighborhood Among Safest In City

The community around Poplar Plaza is among the safest areas of the city, according to law enforcement. However, violence found its way there on September 6th, when a flash mob of teens attacked three people in the parking lot of the Poplar Plaza Kroger.

The assault began when a group of teens surrounded a 25-year-old man, swarming him with punches. Two teenage Kroger employees witnessed the attack and attempted to aid the man. They were both brutally assaulted.

After a video of the incident went viral, the story made headlines on news outlets ranging from the Huffington Post to CNN. This left the potential for people to stigmatize the area and think twice before shopping in Poplar Plaza. Some locals admitted to venturing to other Kroger establishments for groceries. Others took more precautionary measures.

“I carry a zapper now. I have no problem going [to Kroger]. They’re not running me out of my store,” said a High Point Terrace resident, the residential neighborhood east of the shopping plaza, at a meeting last week of the High Point Terrace Neighborhood Watch and Association.

According to the Memphis Police Department (MPD), those who reside in neighborhoods surrounding Poplar Plaza shouldn’t be more worried than normal about their safety.

MPD Colonel Terry Landrum, commander of the Tillman precinct, said information from Blue CRUSH, a data-driven initiative that uses information collected from MPD reports to determine and target crime hotspots, shows that the Poplar Plaza area and nearby neighborhoods have the lowest number of reported crimes in the entire precinct.

The Tillman precinct’s boundaries include Jackson Avenue and L&N Rail Road to the north, Park Avenue to the south, I-40 and I-240 to the east, and Airways and E. Parkway to the west.

In a mile radius of Oak Court Mall, which includes Poplar Plaza, Landrum said shoplifting and residential burglaries tend to occur more often than violent crimes.

“In the month of July, we’ve had three robberies, eight thefts of vehicles, 11 shopliftings, and 10 burglaries [in that area],” Landrum said. “In August, we’ve got nine burglaries, 12 shopliftings, and one robbery. In September, so far, we’ve had three burglaries and two shopliftings and no robberies.”

But some area residents remain bothered by the Kroger incident. High Point Terrace Neighborhood Watch and Association’s meeting at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church’s Fellowship Hall last week centered on the incident and what’s being done to make sure a similar event doesn’t take place in the future. The group brainstormed ways to provide at-risk youth throughout the city with more outlets, support, and mentorship to keep them away from participating in violent flash mobs.

Neighborhood residents, elected officials, Memphis city councilmembers, Shelby County commissioners, and representatives from law enforcement and civic organizations attended the meeting and contributed ideas. Representatives from Poplar Plaza’s Kroger and CiCi’s Pizza, where the teens met up before the Kroger attack, were also in attendance.

Fairy Shull has resided in High Point Terrace for three years and lives within walking distance of Poplar Plaza. Shull said she feels safe in her neighborhood and doesn’t view it or the shopping plaza in a different light following the Kroger parking lot melee.

“If somebody’s lawn mower’s stolen or anything like that, somebody’s on top of it,” Shull said with regard to her neighborhood. “Many of us are vigilant about paying attention to what cars are in our neighbor’s driveway. We are a very engaged community, and that’s precious. We’re right in the heart of the city.”

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News The Fly-By

Forum Explores Youth Violence Prevention Methods

The brutal beating of three people by a mob of teens in the Poplar Plaza Kroger parking lot Saturday night happened just days after a forum was held on ways to prevent youth violence.

Although no one was killed in the Kroger incident, situations involving youth violence don’t always have such endings — 58 of the 119 lives that fell victim to homicide in Memphis this year were between the ages of 18 and 34.

Memphis Police Department (MPD) Director Toney Armstrong announced these statistics during the “Youth Violence Prevention Forum” last Thursday evening.

“I’m using every resource [and] all the manpower that I have, but I can’t do everything,” Armstrong stated during the meeting.

Along with Mayor A C Wharton, Armstrong said he thought it would be helpful for local agencies and organizations that contribute resources toward combating youth violence to congregate. More than 100 representatives of city government, Shelby County Schools, and nonprofit agencies, as well as concerned locals gathered at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library.

Attendees selected one of four breakout sessions including one on literacy and education. The session was intended as a gathering to generate ideas to help increase literacy among young minorities, but it also served as an outlet for participants to vent about the city’s crime, gang, and parenting issues.

One woman was almost in tears while reminiscing about her son, who was among the city’s homicide victims.

“I’m tired of seeing our black youth die in the street like it’s something calm,” she said. “Those are my young men out there in the street, and I feel responsible. We have to start with our children. I don’t care how many programs you produce, you’re trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Until we take the time to teach our children as parents and neighborhood people what’s right and what’s wrong, and teach them the truth, it’s not going to work.”

Other sessions focused on employment opportunities and job readiness, parenting and mentoring, and after-school and athletic activities. At each session, strategies were established to better utilize current resources, and ideas were presented to create new efforts to decrease youth violence.

“The group felt that the community’s disconnect from support for families and communities was a root cause [of youth violence],” said Lisa Moore, facilitator for the parenting and mentoring session. “If there was community support for families and youth, then there would be adequate jobs, better education, and more activities.”

Ron Redwing of the Redwing Foundation and 100 Black Men of Memphis facilitated the employment opportunities and job readiness session. During the gathering, the group discussed creating a centralized database to share information on services offered to help young people find jobs. The group also thought it was important to motivate Memphis-based corporations to hire and retain local talent.

“We looked for specific opportunities to help increase young people’s employment, so that they were either well-trained or had better opportunities for jobs they could seek and become employed with,” Redwing said.

Although the Youth Violence Prevention Forum was arranged to produce new violence intervention strategies, some worry that it will simply be another event involving a multitude of locals who talk about making a change but fall short when it comes to implementing action behind their suggestions.

“I think it was well-intentioned, but I’m not sure that anything occurred that will move the needle,” said a city government official, who asked not to be identified. “It was a lot of preaching to the choir.”

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News The Fly-By

Memphis Police and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Appoint LGBT Police Liaisons

In 2008, a surveillance video of a transgender Shelby County Jail inmate being beaten by police officers in the booking area of the jail sent shockwaves through the LGBT community.

Memphis Police officer Bridges McRae wrapped handcuffs around his fist and punched inmate Duanna Johnson in the head. He also used a chemical spray on Johnson, who later told the media that McRae called her “he/she” and “faggot.” McRae was later sentenced to two years in prison, but for some in the LGBT community, the distrust of police lingered.

“When you have situations like watching an officer beat a person in the jail, that carries a lot of weight. It’s hard to overcome that. It damages trust,” said Will Batts, director of the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center (MGLCC).

Now two police liaisons to the LGBT community — Davin Clemons from the Memphis Police Department (MPD) and Barbara Tolbert from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) — are hoping to restore that trust and ensure that their fellow officers are sensitive to LGBT issues.

It’s been more than a decade since the LGBT community has had a law enforcement liaison, and Batts said one is sorely needed.

“We needed somebody in the departments that we could refer people to, that they would feel safe being honest with,” Batts said.

An area of particular concern, Batts said, is the issue of same-sex domestic violence victims feeling comfortable opening up about their sexual orientation to police. He said police relations with the transgender community could be improved as well.

“Tennessee is the only state with a law against changing your gender marker on your birth certificate, and that puts you in conflict [with police] if your ID doesn’t match your appearance,” Batts said. “And it’s hard for transgender women of color to find adequate employment and housing, and they sometimes find themselves doing survival things that put them in conflict with the police department.”

But now, with the liaisons in place, if someone from the LGBT community has a negative interaction with police, they can turn to Clemons and Tolbert for help.

“If they feel violated or feel like the police are unsympathetic because of their sexual orientation, they can contact me,” said Clemons, who works with the MPD’s TACT Unit. “I will go through my chain of command and submit a memo and let my commanders know what has occurred.”

Clemons, an ordained elder at the Cathedral of Praise Church of Memphis, Inc., was already active in the equality movement before he was chosen for the liaison role. He’s a member of Clergy Defending Rights for All, which worked with the Tennessee Equality Project to push the non-discrimination ordinance for city workers that passed two years ago. He said he’ll help to educate his fellow officers on cultural sensitivity.

“I’m not trying to force sexual orientation on anyone. I’m just trying to make sure we uphold the oath that we took to be respectful of people’s cultures and their rights,” Clemons said. “I know I’ll get some backlash from some officers, but I think overall, most officers understand that Memphis is a melting pot, and we work with people who are same-gender-loving, white, black, Muslim, Asian, Hispanic. We have to respect the citizens we render services to.”

Tolbert, a detective in the SCSO Special Victims Unit, said part of their role as liaisons is simply to be a sympathetic ear.

“People just want to be heard. They want someone to listen to their concerns without any repercussions. I’m that person. They can discuss any matters with me and know they will not be judged,” Tolbert said.

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News The Fly-By

Fed Program Puts Little Military Gear in Memphis

Military fighting gear has made its way from the Department of Defense to the Memphis Police Department (MPD) over the past decade. But Mayor A C Wharton said the city has only “what we need” with access to more gear if a situation arises. 

When officers from the Ferguson Police Department in Missouri clashed with protesters there earlier this month, the nation got a good look at some of the gear that has flowed from the military to local police agencies over the past decade. Police in Ferguson drove armored vehicles, wore body armor, and pointed high-powered rifles at crowds of protestors. The sights made federal leaders uncomfortable, and they are promising action. 

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, of Memphis, demanded a House hearing on the militarization of police forces two weeks ago. U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, of Missouri, promised a similar Senate hearing next month. Obama administration officials said they will review the federal military surplus program and training programs that go with them.

Since 2004, MPD has received five automatic rifles, two boats, and two armored personnel carriers from the Defense Department’s 1033 surplus program, according to the Tennessee Department of General Services. 

Jackson Baker

Memphis Police don body armor for last year’s KKK rally.

MPD public information officer Sgt. Karen Rudolph said the M14 rifles are kept in storage and have never been used. 

The two bridge erection boats, she said, are “basic, flat-bottom, metal boats” that would be used to patrol the Mississippi River, the Port of Memphis, or to rescue passengers from a river boat. But the boats sit in surplus storage, she said.

The MPD’s two armored personnel carriers, which look basically like Army tanks, were built in 1979, Rudolph said, but the department has never used them since they arrived here in 2004. MPD has them, she said, if the need arose to carry officers into a dangerous zone with an active shooter. Also, the carriers’ tracks can travel over terrain too rough for trucks or ATVs. 

Wharton said he oversaw the acquisition of all of the surplus military gear here when he served as the district chair of the Tennessee Homeland Security Council. Though he said he “was a bit concerned about it” at the time, he didn’t see “what I would call excesses.”

“Perhaps [using military gear] ratchets things up, things that wouldn’t reach such a fever pitch if it weren’t for the introduction of that kind of foreboding, frightening equipment that makes folks want to take you on, quite frankly,” Wharton said. 

He preferred to keep police responses “toned down,” he said, but noted that the city could get more heavy response gear from neighboring communities if it was needed. 

But the show of force displayed last year during the Ku Klux Klan’s protest at the Shelby County Courthouse was anything but toned down. It was “overwhelming,” according to an on-the-scene report from Memphis Flyer reporter John Branston.

“There were hundreds of officers in riot gear, scores of vehicles, canine units, horse-mounted units, TACT units, armored vehicles, motorcycles, fire trucks, mobile command posts, and enough firepower to repel, or at least mount a fair challenge, to General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Virginia,” Branston reported.

Rudolph said she would not compare MPD officers to those in Fergurson but defended last year’s response.

“However, as seen during the KKK rally, the Memphis Police Department is adequately equipped with the personnel, equipment, and training needed to address any incident that may occur within our city,” she said. “Our primary goal is to keep our citizens safe.”

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Few Rebuked After Blue Flu, Red Rash

So far, seven Memphis police officers and zero Memphis firefighters have been reprimanded for missing work during the Blue Flu and Red Rash protests last month.

Hundreds of public safety officers with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) and Memphis Fire Services Department (MFSD) called in sick during a two-week span that included the Independence Day holiday. The absences were part of an apparent protest over cuts to health-care benefits for current and retired city employees. At the heights of the separate protests, more than 550 officers and 80 firefighters called in sick. 

Toby Sells

Blue Flu at a news conference last month.

When the protest began, MPD Director Toney Armstrong said a process was in place to review those officers who called out during the work action. Corrective actions against any non-compliant officers absent during the time of the protest could range from an oral reprimand to termination, he said.     

Seven police officers have been reprimanded for absences during the Blue Flu time frame, according to MPD public information officer Sgt. Karen Rudolph. Statements of charges against the officers are pending approval, she said, and range from abusing the sick leave policy and missing court dates to not being at the location where they stated they’d spend their sick day.

“It is important that you understand that these officers are being presented with a statement of charges for these violations only; they should in no way be mentioned as ‘officers involved with the Blue Flu,'” Rudolph said in a statement. “These officers were off sick during this time period; however, it was not determined that these officers were off in order to participate with a work action such as the ‘Blue Flu.'”

Memphis Police Association President Michael Williams said he was not aware of a single reprimand to any Memphis police officer related to the Blue Flu protest. 

“I know that all of those guys had to have the right documentation to be able to come back to work,” Williams said.

Alvin Benson, director of Memphis Fire Services Division, said he did not see a “noticeable spike” in sick days among Memphis firefighters as Blue Flu began. But as it waned, a similar action, the so-called Red Rash, began in his shop. At its height, though, only about 80 MFSD employees had called out sick.

MFSD spokesperson Lt. Wayne Cooke said no reprimands related to the Red Rash have been served on MFSD employees. He said when employees call in sick, each instance is evaluated separately. If the absence doesn’t adhere to the city’s leave policy, action is taken.

“In the case of the recent spike in illnesses, at this point, no disciplinary action has been warranted,” Cooke said. “All absences, though some suspicious, were within existing policy and supported by required documentation.”

The cuts that spurred the work action and other protests were part of Mayor A C Wharton’s budget for the year and were passed by the Memphis City Council. Savings from those cuts are to help patch the massive hole in the city pension fund. 

Since the budget was passed, alternatives to the health-care cuts have come forward. Actuaries are now checking the figures in a new, high-deductible health-care plan brought to the council from the Memphis Fire Fighters Association.

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Memphis Gaydar News

Meet Memphis’ New LGBT Police Liaisons

Police-cap-and-truncheon-on-rainbow-suface-ripple.jpg

Local law enforcement has assigned two officers to act as liaisons to the LGBT community.

Detective Barbara Tolbert of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Officer Davin Clemons of the Memphis Police Department will be on-hand at the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center (892 S. Cooper) on Thursday, Aug. 21st at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting is intended to be “a safe place where members of the LGBTQ community can express concerns candidly or ask questions pertaining to any past or current issues that are related to our local law enforcement authorities,” according to the MGLCC announcement about the meeting.

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Former MPD Officer Charged With Sexual Battery, Son Indicted For Mother’s Murder

Meekose Evans

  • Meekose Evans

A former Memphis Police officer is facing felony charges and years in prison for sexual battery.

Meekose Evans, 30, was indicted on sexual battery this week stemming from an incident in which a motorist said she was groped during a traffic stop in Whitehaven, according to the Shelby County District Attorney General’s office.

A woman said Evans stopped her on February 11th in Whitehaven because her tag lights were out. He later discovered her driver’s license was suspended.

The woman said Evans told her to follow him to an isolated area at the nearby Hillcrest Apartments. She said he then put her in the back of his squad car and asked what she would do for him to avoid getting a ticket.

Evans allegedly requested the woman to expose her breasts and began fondling them. The woman reported the incident to the MPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau and identified Evans in a photo spread.

Evans has also been indicted on charges of official misconduct and official oppression. The charges are felonies that carry one to six years in prison.

Evans was terminated in June from the MPD. He’s scheduled to be in Criminal Court on August 21st. He is presently free on $20,000 bond.

Son Indicted For Mother’s Murder

Alexandre Kim, a 24-year-old Cordova man, was indicted this week on first-degree murder charges in the death of his mother.

On October 7th, 2012, Estelle Carron Kim, was found beaten and strangled inside her burned-out home at 9019 Higden Cove, according to the Shelby County District Attorney General’s office. The 51-year-old woman was a former French teacher at Hutchison School.

Following officers’ arrival to the house, her son, Alexandre, walked up to the scene and told officers he left his mother at the home earlier and had left to get something to eat.

However, officers noticed blood on his clothing and noted that Kim became nervous, according to reports. In addition to that, a witness informed investigators Kim had walked to the house before the fire, left a short time later wearing different clothes, and that the house caught fire about 10 minutes after he left.

Kim is being held without bond. A court date has not been set.

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MPD Director Armstrong, Mayor Wharton Comment On Bloody Beale Street Video

Screen_shot_2014-08-11_at_4.06.24_PM.png

Footage of a man, unconscious and lying in a pool of blood on Memphis’ world-renowned Beale Street, has gone viral.

Around 2 a.m. Sunday, August 10th, Johnathan Parker was discovered with blood flowing from his head and his pants pulled down past his knees. A video posted online displays several people standing around Parker as they record him with their cell phones. But what’s not shown in the video is anyone contacting 911 or alerting law enforcement.

So far, the video has been shared more than 1,800 times on Facebook.

According to the Memphis Police Department (MPD) report taken at the scene, Parker was discovered by law enforcement around 2:25 a.m., unconscious and bleeding from the head.

After he gained consciousness, an officer spoke to Parker, who was reportedly inebriated. The victim provided his name and replied “I’m straight” when asked what happened. He wouldn’t tell officers what happened or who hurt him. Due to Parker’s intoxication, officers were unable to gather enough information to produce a full report.

Following the interview, Parker was transported to the Regional Medical Center in critical condition. He was later upgraded to non-critical condition.

“At this time, it is not clear if this individual was in a fight or if he passed out or fell,” read a statement provided by MPD’s Sgt. Karen Rudolph. “According to the report on file, this individual was intoxicated and was unable to provide any information pertaining to a fight. I spoke with the South Main Station supervisor who advised that investigators followed up with the victim, who is currently in non-critical condition at Regional One, who advised that he doesn’t remember what happened.

“I checked with Communications regarding possible calls for help in connection with this incident and was advised that no calls were received from citizens on the scene. Officers who were in the area conducted a self-initiated call to Communications advising that they located one male down and additional officers were needed. Officers were not neglectful in responding to this call due to the fact that they never received a call.”

Rudolph’s statement acknowledged that this is an ongoing investigation; investigators are checking for any additional video that may have been captured. It stated that MPD are following up with several postings that have been placed on Facebook. Anyone with footage that shows an actual fight or any additional footage that may assist with this investigation are encouraged to forward it to the MPD’s PIO Office (pio@memphistn.gov).

MPD director Toney Armstrong provided his take on the incident: “It is disheartening to see an injured person laying on the ground with spectators capturing photos and video; but not calling for assistance,” stated Director Armstrong. “MPD Communications did not receive a call concerning this wounded individual; however, officers who were assigned to Beale Street responded immediately once they witnessed a large crowd and a man down. This is an ongoing investigation and we are trying to put the pieces together to determine what actually occurred.”

Mayor A C Wharton, Jr. has also released a statement in response to the incident, labeling it “a truly regrettable situation all the way around.”

“I guess I’m not so shocked by the fact that even in a city known for helping people in need that a person in obvious distress would not be immediately assisted by those who saw the situation,” Wharton said. “I’m reminded that even in the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan, two people passed by the man on the roadside bleeding before the Samaritan stopped to help. What is, however, more upsetting to so many of us is that instead of ignoring this individual’s need for help, some people actually stopped and took the time to use their phones to record the incident. These are the same phones that people could have used to call for help given that the initial team of Memphis Police Officers arrived on the scene despite having not received a report of the incident.”

The police report taken at the scene can be read below. And click here to view footage of the incident.

On 08/10/2014 at 02:25 hours, Officer N Payne (12593) reported a ‘Precinct GIB’ memo at 877 Jefferson Ave where victim Johnathan Parker was transported by MFD #11 from Beale St in critical condition. Officers on Beale St. found a male unconscious bleeding from the head. Officer Payne spoke to the victim, that smelled strongly of intoxicants. The victim only provided his name. Officers had to research the victim’s name in Shelby County wasp system to identify him. Officers asked the victim Johnathan Parker what happened he only replied, “I’m straight.” The victim would not tell officers what happened, or who hurt him. The victim Johnathan Parker was under a state of intoxication that prevented officers from gathering enough information to produce a full report. Officer captured photos of the victim’s injuries. The nurse Kerry Lyons, PACE RN advised his condition was non critical. A supervisor, Lt. Tucker (5605) was advised. There was no crime scene. There is video on Beale St, but it was not immediately available.

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Major Crimes Are Down

Jonathan Woods is a resident of Frayser, an area identified as one of the city’s criminal hotspots by law enforcement. And he knows all too well about his neighborhood’s crime problem.

Last year, he lost a friend to gun violence in Frayser, and he acknowledges frequently hearing about various crimes taking place in his community. However, he said he hasn’t personally been a crime victim since moving to the area in 2011.

“You always hear little stories about how rough it is, how the crime is, but it’s not really that bad,” Woods said. “You hear occasional gun shots that make you feel a little nervous but other than that, the neighbors are fine … the people I run across, I haven’t had any problems with them. It’s all in how you make it and how you live.”

According to Memphis Police Department (MPD) data, some of the crimes that plague Frayser and other areas of the city have slightly decreased compared to the same time period last year.

From January 1st to July 22nd of this year, there have been 25,739 “part-one” crimes, which include criminal homicides, aggravated assaults, forcible rapes, robberies, thefts, and burglaries. In 2013, over the same time period, 26,580 such crimes occurred.

Michelle Fowlkes, executive director of the Memphis-Shelby County Crime Commission, said Operation: Safe Community, a crime-reduction initiative that launched in late 2006, has played a significant role in decreasing the presence of part-one crimes.

Using various research-backed, data-driven strategies, the initiative aims to influence reductions in five areas: violence in the home, drug and gang crime, blight and property crime, adult repeat offenders, and youth violence. According to Operation: Safe Community data, from 2007 to 2011, the initiative has helped reduce major violent crime by 22.8 percent and major property crime by 25.5 percent.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but I feel, overall, we will continue to decrease crime,” Fowlkes said. “If you look at the crime numbers of 2006 and you compare them to last year, we are still reducing crime significantly. We’re nowhere near where we were at that period of time.”

According to Operation: Safe Community’s monthly crime report, in 2006, from January 1st to June 30th, there were 86 murders, 208 forcible rapes, 3,956 aggravated assaults, and 2,529 robberies in Memphis. Over the same time frame in 2014, there have been 69 murders, 172 forcible rapes, 3,752 aggravated assaults, and 1,569 robberies.

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said the reduction in part-one crimes is “a step in the right direction” and showcases successful efforts by law enforcement, such as data-driven policing, and the effect of the legislature strengthening violent crime and gun laws.

Weirich said citizens could also contribute to lowering crime by simply being “a good neighbor.”

“If you witness something that you think is suspicious, pick up the phone and call the police,” Weirich said. “They’d much rather get that phone call than the phone call when somebody gets home and finds out their home has been burglarized.”

Woods said he thinks providing at-risk youth with more outlets and activities could have an impact on their futures and could also improve their communities.

“The more stuff you can have for the kids to do, the better,” Woods said. “Everything may not work, but at least you’re trying. If the kids feel like you’re trying, they’ll start to try.”