MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mayor Paul Young held his first press conference to provide a public safety update to Memphis residents Thursday morning.
Young said that he, along with Memphis Police, District Attorney Steve Mulroy, Juvenile Courts, and members of Shelby County and State government, are on a mission to support the city. They are starting off with a Public Safety Task Force which will focus on crime.
“We hear our citizens loud and clear. They want to see action. They want to see us strategizing and figuring out how we’re going to reduce the chaos, hurt and pain that we see in our community,” said Young. “It’s a small subset of our population that’s creating all the crime in our community. A small subset that’s given Memphis the brand that we’ve seen over the past couple of years, and we have to get them off the streets.”
Police say it’s not just getting criminals off the streets, but also their weapons that are hurting children. But they say recent state laws are making matters worse.
“In 2021 permit-less carry and more guns on our streets has really done a disservice to the city of Memphis, and I think that more guns on the streets in Memphis has a different effect than other cities in this state,” said Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis.
Davis also says random shootings are killing children like 3-year-old Brayden Smith, a toddler killed by a stray bullet on New Year’s Eve.
“A Bullet that goes up is coming down some place, and unfortunately it took the life of an innocent child, and so we’re asking our citizens, we’re pleading to our citizens to be more responsible when it comes to the use of firearms,” she said.
A record number of children were shot in 2023. 10 children were killed, and 168 were wounded by guns in Memphis, a nearly 19% increase over the year before.
Young announced that he and other officials discussed the following initiatives:
- MPD Chief CJ Davis mentioned the Repeat Offender Task Force. It aims to intensify the focus on the 20% of individuals who commit 80% of the crimes.
- DA Mulroy discussed fast-tracking violent crimes. He wants to make sure that those creating the most violent crimes in the community are brought to justice as quickly as possible.
- The juvenile court judge talked about a new partnership with local organizations to make sure that referrals are made to support young people. They also aim to have youth development specialists help families in the city.
- Federal District Attorney Kevin Ritz wants to bring in additional U.S. District Attorneys to help prosecute those doing organized crime.
- Representative John Gillespie focused on drag racing legislation. If someone makes the streets unsafe while drag racing, Young says they will be able to take their vehicle.
- Senator Brent Taylor talked about creating a new legislation that will make stealing firearms a felony.
Mayor Young says changes won’t happen overnight, but they will happen, and there will be more leaders joining the Public Safety Task Force.
He also says that at this time, he does not have a timeline or metrics to measure the task force’s success, but that is coming.
You can watch the full press conference in the video player above.