(Memphis) People in the Riverside neighborhood of Memphis are holding on to a prayer they will not become the victim of gang violence.
Now that the multi-agency gang unit is declaring this a gang-free safe zone, the Riverside residents are hoping law enforcement will keep up their end of the bargain and keep them safe.
“There are several hardworking good people who live within this area who have had all they can take,” said District Attorney Amy Weirich.
For the first time ever, the DA’s office is organizing all local law enforcement to shut down gang activity in the Riverside neighborhood where shots are fired every day.
By declaring the gang problem a public nuisance, the DA’s office says it will now break up dangerous crowds and arrest known gang members.
There will also be more officers patrolling and embedded in the South Memphis neighborhood.
“No one should have to live like that,” said US Attorney Ed Stanton II.
Stanton is on the multi-agency gang unit targeting Riverside and says this is not publicity stunt, and those who live there can anticipate a change.
“This has been going on for the past ten months, so those men and women who are on the ground in this community are not strangers. They have been there and they will remain to make sure what they start they finish,” said Stanton.
The gang unit is currently doing the background legwork in other neighborhoods to launch a crackdown in the coming months.
