MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mayors Jim Strickland and Mark Luttrell put together a so called wish list of things they want from Nashville in the upcoming year.
There’s everything from public safety to education reform.
The duo said it was time for the city and county to get its fair due from the state, and that meant providing state legislators with an outline of some of Memphis’ and Shelby County’s joint priorities for state investment and upcoming legislation.
“They’re the ones who make the decision, pass the law, the budget,” Jim Strickland told WREG.
Speaking at the Pink Palace on Monday, Strickland said many of the issues were things initially discussed by former Memphis Mayor A C Wharton and Shelby County Mayor Luttrell.
When asked what was something that was particularly important to him, he said he really wanted to push for harsher sentences for domestic violence offenders.
“Domestic violence is a huge issue across the country, across the state. It’s a large portion of our crimes and we can better prevent it.”
The mayors encouraged lawmakers to make a third domestic violence crime a felony, rather than a misdemeanor.
“Right now if someone is convicted of domestic violence its a misdemeanor the first time, the third time, the sixth time.”
They also want it to be easier for victims to be able to get orders of protection.
Another issue only Strickland addressed was something WREG has been pushing for answers more answers about – body cameras for Memphis Police Officers.
“After my first day on the job I’ve learned we have a long way to go before implementing body cameras,” he said.
He said legalities involving children and how that information is shared needs to be looked into.
“Obviously children are involved or have a lot of encounters with police.”
He also said he plans to ask the state for money to help with the storage of video, which he said is extremely costly.
“This would be money to help store and retrieve information because it helps with state prosecutions.”
He couldn’t say how much money will be needed or when we should expect to see the cameras fully deployed on the streets.
