MEMPHIS, Tenn. — City and county leaders are hosting a crime summit to help the community find solutions after another night of violence across Memphis.
Mass shootings in Hickory Hill and in Whitehaven are leaving some in the community almost feeling numb. No matter where you live, it almost seems shootings like these are hitting too close to home and happening too often.
“That brings it home. The bottom line is we have too many people out with guns that are doing too many wrong things,” said Councilman Dr. Jeff Warren.
District 9 Councilmembers Dr. Jeff Warren and J. Ford Canale say the problem isn’t with responsible gun owners.
“We need to have a way for people to have guns responsibly and don’t have teenagers driving around with automatic weapons shooting at each other,” Councilman Warren said.
Shootings, carjackings, and police reform will be some of the topics discussed with the public during their 2023 Crime Summit at First Baptist Broad Church.
“Everybody understands the crime numbers are out of control here and the latest number through today: 3,785 cars stolen, 78 murders, 1,648 aggravated assaults, 74 carjackings. The list goes on. We’ve got to do something,” said Councilman J. Ford Canale.
The Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County District Attorney, state lawmakers, and Memphis-Shelby County School leaders will tackle what’s working and what’s not when it comes to crime as a community searches for solutions.
“Innocent lives are being taken almost daily in this city by gun violence and we’ve got to stop it,” said Councilman Canale.
“We just can’t sit back and say it’s not my problem and say I can only do this. We have to say I can do this, what can you do, and maybe we can get to some solutions,” said Councilman Warren.
The 2023 Crime Summit will be held on Thursday, March 30 at 6 p.m. at First Baptist Church Broad located at 2835 Broad Avenue.