Tag: Memphis Police Department

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Memphis Gaydar News

Meet Memphis’ New LGBT Police Liaisons

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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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News News Blog

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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News News Blog

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

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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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News The Fly-By

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.”

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Letter from the Editor: Split the Baby

I got several calls from Memphis Police and Fire Department employees this week. They were all angry about the proposed cuts and changes to their pension and health-care plans and wanted the Flyer to “tell the truth” about the situation.

The core truth is that the city — as mandated by the state — needs to find a way to pay down its pension obligations in five years. It can do this by cutting costs, raising revenues (taxes), or a combination of the two.

The proposal at hand would turn the current guaranteed pension plan for city employees into a 401k plan. It would also reduce benefits and/or raise the costs of health care for current employees and retirees.

The Memphis City Council majority is determined not to raise property taxes, come hell or high water, the stated rationale being that it will motivate people to leave Memphis. The 6,000 police and fire personnel and other city employees contend that they are being asked to carry the entire burden of fixing the budget mess for the rest of us.

The council has gotten support for its “no new taxes” position from the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce (COC), which launched a campaign against any tax hike. A counter-campaign has sprung up, urging citizens not to patronize businesses that are COC members.

And speaking of hell and high water… one fireman I spoke to alluded to certain “measures” that could be taken to demonstrate how important his department is to the city. He was referencing the rumors that have been circulating for a week or so about a “sick-out” over the Fourth of July weekend.

A sick-out of fire and police personnel on a holiday weekend filled with fireworks and massive downtown crowds would be a PR disaster for both departments, in my opinion, and would only harden the views on both sides of the issue. Especially, if there were a fire or a crime that caused the loss of life due to a lack of response.

That said, taking away promised health benefits, especially from retirees on a fixed pension is just wrong. And remember, these employees don’t get Social Security, so their pension is it when it comes to supporting themselves in their old age.

I’m quite obviously not an expert in city finances, and Lord knows the city has spent enough on consultants and experts to cover my retirement quite nicely. But surely there is a baby to be split here somewhere. A small tax increase isn’t going to send people fleeing en masse. And the switch to a 401k plan isn’t going be the end of the world for city employees.

We need to keep and attract highly qualified police and fire department personnel. A fear of not being safe will send as many people fleeing the city as a tax increase will. It’s time to make a deal — before things get even hotter.

Bruce VanWyngarden

brucev@memphisflyer.com

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News The Fly-By

Documentary Highlights MPD’s 1948 Integration

More than half of the Memphis Police Department (MPD) is made up of African-American officers, but that wasn’t always the case.

In 1948, the MPD welcomed its first nine publicized black officers. The historic occurrence is profiled in a new documentary titled True Blue — Memphis Lawmen of 1948.

The Earnest C. Withers Foundation along with the Afro American Police Association and Cinematic Arts collectively premiered the documentary last weekend at the University of Memphis.

Ernest Withers

Andrew “Rome” Withers, son of famed Civil Rights-era photographer Earnest Withers, who was also one of the first nine black officers, said the documentary profiles the historic feat of the officers and the struggles they experienced.

“Most of them, when they were hired, had to buy their own guns” Withers said. “Their roll call was on Beale Street, separate from the white officers. The pay was different. And, of course, they could not arrest white people at all. They could only detain them until a white officer came.”

True Blue takes a trip through time to highlight the controversial integration of the MPD and how things have changed since then. The documentary focuses on two of the surviving members of the class of 1948, Jerry Williams and Roscoe McWilliams.

The first nine black MPD officers in 1948

True Blue reveals how the MPD’s black officers of 1948 were hired in the first place. After several African-Americans had been severely beaten and shot by white police officers, local residents became enraged. A community meeting was held by Memphis Mayor E.H. Crump, who promised to provide the black community with their own parks and recreational facilities to ease concerns about police brutality. However, one woman stood up and expressed that they would like black policemen instead.

Crump concurred, and African-Americans were allowed to apply for the police force. Out of 160-plus applicants, nine officers were hired. Several more came on board a couple weeks later. They were assigned to patrol the areas of Beale Street and Orange Mound.

Although it’s been publicized that the first black Memphis police officers were hired in 1948, the documentary conveys that there were actually two other classes before them.

One class of black officers was introduced during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878, and the other was in 1919. But according to the MPD’s History Timeline, the first two black men to serve with the MPD, William Cook and John F. Harris, were hired in 1867.

Others who participated in the documentary include MPD Director Toney Armstrong, the wives of Wendell Robinson and R.J. Turner (two of the first nine black officers), and Claudine Penn (the city’s first black female police officer).

Withers said the documentary will be submitted to film festivals around the world, and he hopes a major TV network will broadcast it. They also plan to show True Blue in Shelby County Schools.

“It’s an intriguing story that I think will appeal to people who do not know about Memphis history,” Withers said. “We don’t get enough of our history, so I’m hoping that [True Blue] will appeal to the community and we will get support to continue to make feature films about different aspects of Memphis that are unidentified and unknown. [The film] will bring hope and identification of history that’s never been told before. Not just for us but for generations to come.”

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News The Fly-By

Memphis Police and Fire Consider Moving Offices

CREDIT: Toby Sells

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) headquarters is “crowded and costly.” The Memphis Division of Fire Services headquarters has a nice river view and is “not the highest and best use of the property.” The two departments could cut costs for taxpayers by moving in together and sharing some back-office staffers. 

Toby Sells

Those ideas come from the city’s five-year strategic management plan published in January by the PFM Group consultants. The real estate ideas have come back into focus recently, as the Memphis City Council considers a deal to take over the Donnelly J. Hill State Office Building.

The building is worth about about $2.4 million, and the state would hand over its title to the city for the use of 400 parking spots in the Peabody Place garage for the next 15 years.

The city now has eight leases for office space around town. It pays about $3 million each year in rent to provide office space for about 460 employees. Real estate consultants have told councilmembers they could consolidate many of these offices into the Donnelly building on Civic Plaza, including the Memphis Housing Authority, Housing and Community Development, and Information Technology. 

But much of the conversation on the state building has at least touched on moving MPD. The department is now housed on three floors of the Shelby County Criminal Justice Complex, more commonly known as 201 Poplar. MPD moved there in 1982 but quickly outgrew it. Complaints about space constraints have come from former police directors James Bolden and Larry Godwin and current director Toney Armstrong.     

“Honestly, I think we have outgrown 201 Poplar,” Armstrong told councilmembers in budget discussions in 2012. “We have been able to grow at the uniform patrol level but not at the investigative level, simply because we don’t have the space for it.”

The cost to rent the currently cramped space is $1.4 million per year. That’s way too high, according to the consultant’s five-year plan. At the end of 2012, the average rate for Class A office space — the very best office space — in downtown Memphis was $16.75 per square foot, according to the city’s consultants. Taxpayers are leasing the MPD space in 201 Poplar for about $17.70 per square foot. 

The fire department has largely been left out of the recent conversations about office moves and consolidation, but the PFM report said its Front Street location is “not ideal” and is in “what could be a prime location for development.” 

The five-year plan said that Memphis police and fire should consolidate some of their office functions, and even communications, to save money. And, it said, sharing a physical location would help do just that.

But the Donnelley building wasn’t on the table in January when the five-year plan was published. Instead, the plan said the city should renovate the old police headquarters at 128 Adams, which has been vacant for the past 30 years. 

The renovation price tag of about $30 million puts the project out of reach, the city’s Chief Administrative Officer George Little has said in past budget discussions.

Consultants said the cost would be offset by eliminating rents in other places or could be paid from the sale of the fire department headquarters on Front Street. Or, the report, said 128 Adams could be sold to a private developer.

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News The Fly-By

Blue Crush Continues To Help MPD Combat Crime

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

In 2005, former Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin introduced a plan to crush crime one statistic at a time.

Called Blue CRUSH, the data-driven initiative uses information collected from Memphis Police Department (MPD) reports to determine local crime hotspots. Aggravated assaults, nondomestic violence, robbery, burglary, and vehicle theft are among the crimes targeted.

The location, day, and time an offense occurs is recorded and analyzed, which helps law enforcement determine where they need to deploy more officers. Crime stats in these hotspots are generally lowered as a result.

Blue CRUSH’s citywide launch was covered in the Memphis Flyer article “A Secret Crush” by Bianca Phillips in December 2006, and the initiative was later profiled in-depth in the cover story “Blue Crush” by Preston Lauterbach in April 2007.

Justin Fox Burks

Richard Janikowski

Richard Janikowski, a retired University of Memphis criminology professor, was instrumental in the creation of Blue CRUSH (an acronym for Crime Reduction Utilizing Statistical History). He along with several other analysts from the University of Memphis’ Center for Community Criminology and Research banded together to create the initiative with the MPD.

“The first year saw some modest decreases, and then things started decreasing across the board,” Janikowski said. “By the end of 2010, violent crime was down in Memphis over 24 percent [and] property crime [was down] over 26 percent. It had real impacts that became noticed throughout the country. Police departments from around the world have been coming to Memphis to look at what’s been done.”

The crime-fighting initiative came about after Godwin called a meeting of high-ranking city officials and law enforcement representatives at a local Piccadilly Cafeteria urging the development of new approaches to combat city crime.

During the meeting, Janikowski informed Godwin he could develop a program pinpointing crime hotspots but needed access to all of the MPD’s data on an ongoing basis. After being provided with data packages composed of information on various crimes, Janikowski and his colleagues began examining them on a daily basis, determining what information was useful and how they could best utilize it. They produced information packages for precinct commanders, showing criminal hotspots and frequent days and times criminal activity took place in those areas.

Pilot operations of Blue CRUSH were conducted throughout the end of 2005 and into 2006, exploring what tactics worked and how they could best be adapted. The initiative launched citywide in late 2006.

Nearly a decade later, Blue CRUSH has been responsible for triggering thousands of arrests. And Janikowski said MPD commanders and analysts continue to discover better ways to suppress local crime.

“Commanders have mastered the use of data, how to deploy task forces, and directed patrol,” Janikowski said. “They’ve developed new analysts and new technologies to apply.”

Nevertheless, annually, the MPD experiences a decrease in manpower due to budget cuts, reduction in promotions, and limited resources for recruiting and training new officers.

Janikowski said the MPD’s decline in manpower leaves open the opportunity for Blue CRUSH to become a lost cause.

“I don’t care what you call the crime initiative, the data and the analysis are tools, but the work is done by those men and women in blue on the streets,” he said. “They’re the critical variable. None of it works without them. The problem right now is literally every week MPD’s number of sworn officers is declining. It has been declining for a number of years.”

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News The Fly-By

Memphis Police Director To Re-Design the Department

Many were surprised to learn last week that efforts are under way to “redesign” the Memphis Police Department (MPD).

Police Director Toney Armstrong delivered the news in a Memphis City Council budget hearing in his standard, flat, professional monotone that made the announcement seem expected, though many said it was the first they’d heard of the project.

The crux of the announcement was that the MPD’s proposed budget for next year includes about 188 fewer police officers than it had last year. The current budget allows Armstrong to have as many as 2,470 officers.

But it’s more than simply the number of officers influencing Armstrong’s decision to redesign the department. Armstrong had been directed by the city’s Chief Administrative Officer, George Little, to revise the department’s mission statement — that is, change what kind of services the MPD provides and how it delivers those services. The directive sprang from tight financial times for city leaders who are pressured to maintain services to taxpayers, which get more expensive every year, and pay at least $15 million more next year into the city’s ailing pension fund.   

“We’re at a time of reckoning when we need to decide what level of service we can afford to provide,” Little said Tuesday.

Armstrong said the redesign process is moving ahead, but it is far from complete, and he prompted city council members for guidance. 

“We are in the process of essentially designing a new police department,” Armstrong said. “As the police department stands now, we have [a complement of] 2,470 officers. If we scale back to 2,282 as we’ve proposed in this budget, there will be a level of services we will not be able to perform. We have to make decisions on what to do and what not to do.”

Fewer officers would likely come with a reduced mission. For example, the MPD could choose not to respond to burglar alarms or to fender benders. These ideas have been discussed in the past but were formalized in the city’s five-year strategic plan from consulting firm The PFM Group.

That study proposed a raft of changes that included a reduced list of services from the MPD, lowering pay for some police positions, hiring civilians to do office work that is currently performed by higher-wage sworn officers, cutting back on pay for college incentives and length of service, and cutting some holidays and sick days. 

Perhaps the biggest move suggested by PFM is to consolidate the office and dispatch services of the MPD and the Memphis Fire Department (MFD). The study said as many as 130 governments have consolidated police and fire to some degree. Some have even cross-trained police officers and firefighters to do both jobs, it said. 

But the study suggested the MPD and the MFD maintain independence but share back-office support and dispatchers. Doing so would save $7.6 million over five years with a reduction of 35 employees.  

Michael Williams, president of the Memphis Police Association, said he read PFM’s report but didn’t know until Armstrong said it last week that the MPD was up for a redesign.

“The director’s got to do what the director’s got to do,” Williams said. “But what I heard him say to the council was, actually, the council has to decide what level of service do they want to provide to the citizens. If they want a full-service department, they have to increase the complement. If they do not, then the citizens have to be told and have to understand that they aren’t going to receive the same services they’re used to.”

• MPD calls 2012 – 1,637,200

• Radio dispatcher salary – $50,345 (34 percent higher than peer cities)

• MPD portion of city’s 2013 budget – 36.6 percent

• MPD/MFD holiday pay 2013 – $11.8 million

• MPD employees – increased by 314 from 2008-2013

Source: PFM Group

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News News Blog

MPD Collecting Unwanted Prescription Drugs At Kroger

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

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Before locals enter their community Kroger to shop this Saturday, they’ll have the opportunity to dispose of expired or unwanted prescription drugs from their medicine cabinets in bins outside the establishment.

As part of the 8th annual National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, Memphis Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials will be present at four different Kroger locations with bins for people to safely and anonymously dispose unwanted, unused prescription drugs this Saturday (April 26th).

The take-back, which heightens the prevention of possible pill abuse and inappropriate distribution, will last from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The four Kroger branches that MPD and DEA officials will be on site at are 3444 Plaza Ave, 3860 Austin Peay Highway, 676 Germantown Parkway, and 7942 Winchester Road. People can also dispose prescription drugs at Emmanuel United Methodist (2404 Kirby Road).

“This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue,” a MPD press release stated. “Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.”

Last October, Americans turned in 324 tons (over 647,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at over 4,114 sites operated by the DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners, according to the MPD. When those results are combined with what was collected in its seven previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 3.4 million pounds—more than 1,700 tons—of pills.

MPD spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said illegal prescription drug distribution is prevalent locally. She said the prescription drugs collected Saturday will be weighed and transported to a burn facility out of state and destroyed.

Earlier this month, more than three dozen people involved in a prescription drug-ring were indicted during “Operation Whitehaven Dilaudid Family.” The ring was responsible for illegally distributing large amounts of Dilaudid and other prescription pills throughout the area.

More than 20 of the individuals indicted are facing state drug charges. Another 15 defendants are facing federal drug charges. Charges carry penalties of up to 25 years in prison without parole.

“Many of the 23 defendants indicted on state drug charges are family members whose drug-trafficking operation has been in business for more than 15 years,” Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich said in a press release.

Law enforcement seized 10 vehicles, $53,807 in cash, 111 Dilaudid pills and 154 grams of powder cocaine during the undercover operation.

The MPD’s Organized Crime Unit, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service executed “Operation Whitehaven Dilaudid Family” collectively.