MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis city council member Jeff Warren said he wants to create an anti-violence task force, as violence across the city continues to rise.
Warren said said recent violence like the staggering numbers from this weekend show why now is the time to act. At least 10 people were shot in the last 24 hours in Memphis, and two of them have died.
“We’re bleeding out our youth and their potential. And we’re bleeding out our taxpayer money and we need to be doing a better job saving lives,” Warren said.
It is why he wants to use a plan from the book “Bleeding Out” to create a citywide anti-violence task force with a very specific focus.
Leaders say violence is costing our city in more ways than one. Every murder cost our community $10 million, Warren said. Each murder has a long-lasting impact that touches the entire community, he said.
“We lose the productivity of the person who was killed,” Warren said. “The person who did the killing and that doesn’t include the people who were maimed for life.”
“This task force is primarily designed to stop violent urban gang crime, violent criminal crime. It’s not really designed to do domestic crime, robberies, drug deals,” Warren said.
In order for this to work, Warren said it must reach beyond what the district attorney and local law enforcement is doing to address crime.
“The idea is to stop the would be shooters from becoming actual shooters and to figure out what they need. A lot of the kids involved in this, it’s because they need to eat,” Warren said.
That is why the task force would call on involvement from pastors, social workers, community volunteers, and even ex-gang members, with one common goal.
“What we want to do is to be able to stop the next killing. In order to do that, there’s got to be a level of trust between the groups to make that happen and that’s what this taskforce is designed to produce,” Warren said.
This is not going to be a quick fix, Warren said it will take six to twelve months to get this task force up and running. He will present his resolution to council on Tuesday.
