MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Far too often we’ve told you about unnerving crime at Hillview Village Apartments off Alcy.
“The crime is not going to stop,” said Mario Denton.
Denton said it’s where his sister lived and left after she and five others were shot one night in August. His sister was pregnant and had to have an emergency C-section.
“She got fed up. She said she wasn’t going back to those apartments, because there’s too much crime going on over there,” said Denton.
Many have echoed those same concerns to WREG but were too afraid to go on camera.
MPD’s crime tracking map shows nearly ten crimes reported so far in September, including a man who was shot twice near his front door last week.
WREG uncovered a long list of every time police were called to Hillview between January 2017 and mid-August 2018. Nearly 200 reports in all including robberies, gunfire and suspicious activity.
“Hillview Apartments needs to be thoroughly investigated,” said Denton.
The District Attorney’s Office says Hillview is an “ongoing concern” and will continue to keep track of the issues.
“Just keep everything open and visible. Criminals don’t want to be seen because that increases their chances of being caught,” Janine Heiner Buchanan with Safeways Incorporated, a non-profit working to reduce crime in apartments, said.
While Hillview isn’t working with Safeways, Buchanan says she’s worked with complexes facing similar crime problems.
“Some of the most effective and immediate solutions are some of the most affordable. Trim the shrubbery, so there aren’t hiding places and they aren’t blocking windows,” she said. “There’s a lot that crime prevention through environmental design we could do for that property and for many properties throughout the city.”
We’re still waiting to hear from Hillview’s management to see what they’re doing about the frequent criminal activity and if they might consider joining a program like Safeways.
