MEMPHIS, Tenn — Mayor Jim Strickland has responded to the recent deadly shootings in Memphis.
Mayor Strickland spoke with WREG after a 10-year-old boy was killed in a drive-by shooting on Airways Boulevard near Ketchum Monday night.
“Like most Memphians, I am sick and tired of those people in our city who harm the lives of other people,” said Mayor Strickland.
The mayor said he would make sure the people who commit these heinous crimes are captured.
“I want them to hear it clearly,” said Mayor Stickland. “To those people doing this – we will find you. We will put you in jail. We will work with our partners at the prosecutors office to send you to prison for the maximum time possible.”
The mayor said that he was tired of hearing about all of the shootings that are taking place in the city of Memphis and promised change.
“We have partnered with the federal U.S. Attorney’s Office on a campaign called ‘Fed Up,'” said Mayor Strickland.
The mayor said that the partnership was created, so that convicted criminals serve more of their sentence.
“What many people don’t realize is that when you get convicted of a federal crime, you serve 90 percent of the sentence,” said Mayor Strickland. “In state court, it’s only about a third.”
Mayor Strickland also says he is working hard to recruit more police officers. He mentioned that a new class of police officers will graduate in January.
“We are working very hard to retain our police officers and recruit more. We need that number up,” he said.
In the meantime, he said MPD has increased patrols where the violence occurred, and detectives are working around the clock to find the shooters.
