MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After a Memphis police officer was shot and killed on his own street, some in the community feel worried about security in their own neighborhoods.
WREG asked the Memphis Police Department if it would consider trying different policing strategies to secure neighborhoods.
While a memorial grows outside Officer Terence Olridge’s Cordova home, other MPD officers have to return to the streets.
“We want the young people to see through our Community Outreach Program that police are not just here to arrest you or to harass you. We’re here to show you a better way of life,” an MPD lieutenant said when addressing a crowd at a youth event Monday.
By definition, that is community policing, which is a strategy to encourage better relationships between police and the public.
Monday on Live at 9, Mayor-elect Jim Strickland credited police director Toney Armstrong for trying to make it work.
“Director Armstrong always talks about this,” Strickland said. “If you have a good relationship with the public, they’re more willing to work with the police to identify who’s committing the crimes.”
Strickland won last week’s election running on an anti-crime platform.
“I’m 100 percent committed to Blue Crush, and we will implement that,” Strickland said. He added that some say Blue Crush is currently being implemented.
It is a controversial stat-based policing program focused on crime hot spots and stepping up patrols in those areas. It is similar to what is known as the “broken windows theory.”
Police in some cities use a zero-tolerance approach, arresting anyone for even petty crimes like public intoxication.
Memphis Police did not answer our questions about changing policies, but the mayor-elect did say he believes there is “no doubt” that blight leads to crime.