Crime Ridden Memphis

[85SugarVol]

I can’t think of a much better symbol for Memphis than Wanda Halbert.

https://wreg.com/news/local/judge-dismisses-wanda-halbert-ouster-case-clerk-to-speak/

 

[hog88]

It’s a far cry from the HS your wife graduated from.

Germantown HS is actually a Memphis City School.

Went to daughters dance competition and Germantown was there, wife about fell over when their team came out on the stage.

 

[gordonr24]

Watch your speed for sure along Southern border of Germantown...

Once criminals get onto 385, they are home free since Memphis police won't do anything...

I’d wager that Collierville is worse off in the future than Germantown just because of the easy access to 385 at multiple on ramps.

South Collierville near the mall has become a criminal haven

 

[Woodrow Call]

Same. Lived inside the 240 loop for the 1st 23 years of my life. Cordova for the next few. Suburbs ever since. Memphis is beyond salvation at this point I think. I hope they can get rid of Mulroy and Halbert, but they are only a small part of the problems.

My family has been in Memphis since the 19th century, and the city is a far cry from what it was when I was a kid. One of the reasons there is little to no hope is our children. There are 110,000 kids in MSCS. Over 80% are incompetent in reading and writing. Over 90% in math. That means over 80,000 kids are on the path to hopelessness and likely crime. The numbers are overwhelming.

The mayor wants to raise property taxes on the most stable citizens in order to help pay for programs that won't make a dent in the situation. That will cause more people to leave and drive down values. If he wants programs, and I do believe we need early childhood programs and adult job training, he needs federal money. You can't put it on the backs of the one segment of the population that's holding things together.

 

[McDad]

My family has been in Memphis since the 19th century, and the city is a far cry from what it was when I was a kid. One of the reasons there is little to no hope is our children. There are 110,000 kids in MSCS. Over 80% are incompetent in reading and writing. Over 90% in math. That means over 80,000 kids are on the path to hopelessness and likely crime. The numbers are overwhelming.

The mayor wants to raise property taxes on the most stable citizens in order to help pay for programs that won't make a dent in the situation. That will cause more people to leave and drive down values. If he wants programs, and I do believe we need early childhood programs and adult job training, he needs federal money. You can't put it on the backs of the one segment of the population that's holding things together.

Good post. I have a slight disagreement with one thing...
It's not the federal government's responsibility to bail out a city's cultural problem.

I hope Memphis can recover.

 

[hog88]

My family has been in Memphis since the 19th century, and the city is a far cry from what it was when I was a kid. One of the reasons there is little to no hope is our children. There are 110,000 kids in MSCS. Over 80% are incompetent in reading and writing. Over 90% in math. That means over 80,000 kids are on the path to hopelessness and likely crime. The numbers are overwhelming.

The mayor wants to raise property taxes on the most stable citizens in order to help pay for programs that won't make a dent in the situation. That will cause more people to leave and drive down values. If he wants programs, and I do believe we need early childhood programs and adult job training, he needs federal money. You can't put it on the backs of the one segment of the population that's holding things together.

Federal money brings federal strings and typically failure.

 

[508mikey]

Federal money brings federal strings and typically failure.

Politicians bring failure

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

The State neglecting Memphis for decades is a contributing factor in all this mess...

Memphis has 1 of the next 70 TDOT projects over the next 10 years. 15% of the population and 1% of the spend. Instead of building the infrastructure to support Memphis's distribution advantages, it is willingly allowing it to crumble for political reasons....

The highway patrol doesn't even pretend to patrol in Shelby County. The city and counry have to take resources to patrol roads that are the state's respinsibility. The city has to take millions from their budget to fill potholes on roads that are the state’s responsibility.

There are a lot of people responsible for the mess Memphis is in..

 

[Woodrow Call]

Federal money brings federal strings and typically failure.

Well, I can you give a lot of examples where Federal money has made a huge difference. Memphis is mired in a humanitarian crisis. We have to attempt to do something to save these children. Their parents are incapable.

 

[85SugarVol]

The State neglecting Memphis for decades is a contributing factor in all this mess...

Memphis has 1 of the next 70 TDOT projects over the next 10 years. 15% of the population and 1% of the spend. Instead of building the infrastructure to support Memphis's distribution advantages, it is willingly allowing it to crumble for political reasons....

The highway patrol doesn't even pretend to patrol in Shelby County. The city and counry have to take resources to patrol roads that are the state's respinsibility. The city has to take millions from their budget to fill potholes on roads that are the state’s responsibility.

There are a lot of people responsible for the mess Memphis is in..

They’re sending more Troopers

Nearly 50 state troopers now designated to Memphis district

Calls to increase the law enforcement presence in the area continue as reckless driving and interstate shootings are a concern across the county.

www.actionnews5.com

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

They’re sending more Troopers

Nearly 50 state troopers now designated to Memphis district

Calls to increase the law enforcement presence in the area continue as reckless driving and interstate shootings are a concern across the county.

www.actionnews5.com

50 is still less than 4% of total. 15% of population, 4% max....

When it was 6 total, it was .5% of total trooper total (and they just hung around Arlington)...

The State's total neglect is causing an already thin and overworked PD to be stretched thinner....

 

[Woodrow Call]

Good post. I have a slight disagreement with one thing...
It's not the federal government's responsibility to bail out a city's cultural problem.

I hope Memphis can recover.

The problem is the state of Tennessee won't help. There's not enough money in Memphis to bring about substantive change, and all of the non-profits in Memphis compete for a small pie of funding. I don't think they can or would work together at the level required to turn the tide. I'm talking about money for remedial adult education, early childhood development, including nutritional and medical help (many aren't even vaccinated) and and complete overhaul of education. All of these things are connected. If the feds can't help, the cause is likely lost.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

The problem is the state of Tennessee won't help. There's not enough money in Memphis to bring about substantive change, and all of the non-profits in Memphis compete for a small pie of funding. I don't think they can or would work together at the level required to turn the tide. I'm talking about money for remedial adult education, early childhood development, including nutritional and medical help (many aren't even vaccinated) and and complete overhaul of education. All of these things are connected. If the feds can't help, the cause is likely lost.

All of the money in the world won't matter if Memphis doesn't want to improve themselves....

The money is there for education but the school system is a bureaucratic and administrative mess.

I'd argue you have to fix safety first. That's another 75 Troopers and 500 cops, for starters.

The city needs to take advantage of its distribution and central location. It means the state needs to direct state and federal transportation$$$ to Memphis. Finish the I22 corridor, finish 69 and 269, third bridge across Mississippi, etc. This 1% of next 10 year plan BS has to go...

You invest in safety and infrastructure, you'll get some of the distribution jobs back you've been losing to Desoto and Fayette County...

 

[Jxn Vol]

Fixing Memphis is like trying to fix a termite infested house.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

How can invest $50-75MM in a distribution center with this stat.

Right now, there is 1 bridge crossing the MS River within 60 miles of Memphis. The other one is currently not open due to no maintenance for decades. The one bridge that is open now was shut down a couple of years ago for months for repairs for long-term structural maintenance deferred for decades by TDOT....

For comparison purposes, STL has 7. Baton Rouge has 4, New Orleans 5. Even Cape Gireadeau, MO has 2 within 50 miles...

 

[hog88]

The problem is the state of Tennessee won't help. There's not enough money in Memphis to bring about substantive change, and all of the non-profits in Memphis compete for a small pie of funding. I don't think they can or would work together at the level required to turn the tide. I'm talking about money for remedial adult education, early childhood development, including nutritional and medical help (many aren't even vaccinated) and and complete overhaul of education. All of these things are connected. If the feds can't help, the cause is likely lost.

All of that is good in theory but without buy in from the citizens it will all be wasted. My wife has had apartment communities in Memphis for 20+ years, all of them low income. She used to have afterschool programs for the kids where the property paid for a tutor and food, the theory was it was cheaper than paying to fix the vandalism and damage caused by unsupervised kids. She ended the programs because kids wouldn't come and most couldn't come because their parents wouldn't let them. Point being, all the money in the world isn't going to fix people that don't want to be fixed.

 

[gordonr24]

Fixing Memphis is like trying to fix a termite infested house.

There’s not many if any US cities with a more gloomy future than Memphis. And the good folks will leave in droves and that will kill home values.

Not to mention the company that drives the city’s economy, FedEx, is struggling and cutting jobs left and right.

It’s a shame, because my family goes back to the 1800s living here, but I will be the first generation to pack up and leave it all behind in the next couple years.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

Fixing Memphis is like trying to fix a termite infested house.

I'll expand on your analogy.

It's fixing a termite infested house where the homeowner pays an annual termite fee and the pest control company fails to do the work and won't provide support when it starts to crumble....

 

[theFallGuy]

They’re sending more Troopers

Nearly 50 state troopers now designated to Memphis district

Calls to increase the law enforcement presence in the area continue as reckless driving and interstate shootings are a concern across the county.

www.actionnews5.com

at this point we need the damn National Guard to post up and patrol.

But it's hard to get any handle on crime when the citizens vote in a "no bond" DA in Mulroy, the local leaders want to hand cuff the officers from doing their jobs because of "racial optics"

 

[85SugarVol]

at this point we need the damn National Guard to post up and patrol.

But it's hard to get any handle on crime when the citizens vote in a "no bond" DA in Mulroy, the local leaders want to hand cuff the officers from doing their jobs because of "racial optics"

When Mulroy was installed, and then Paul Young was elected mayor as the “reasonable” candidate with a platform of restorative justice and a declaration that there was “no juvenile crime problem” in Memphis - it was time to go..

 

[theFallGuy]

When Mulroy was installed, and then Paul Young was elected mayor as the “reasonable” candidate with a platform of restorative justice and a declaration that there was “no juvenile crime problem” in Memphis - it was time to go..

"Restorative justice" is code for "we are soft as chit on crime".

I remember when Larry Godwin was chief and he implemented Operation Blue Crush. They essentially saturated the high crime areas based on data. Well unfortunately that's mostly black neighborhoods so in today's social justice era that's a big no no.

 

[85SugarVol]

"Restorative justice" is code for "we are soft as chit on crime".

I remember when Larry Godwin was chief and he implemented Operation Blue Crush. They essentially saturated the high crime areas based on data. Well unfortunately that's mostly black neighborhoods so in today's social justice era that's a big no no.

Yea, crime usually is co-located with poverty and despair.

In Memphis, poverty and despair is rampant in black communities. Head to Millington, and it will look different.

But this is Memphis.

We all know where the crime is located.
We all know where the data says crime is located.
And we all know it’s super duper racist to focus police presence on those high crime areas.

 

[85SugarVol]

"Restorative justice" is code for "we are soft as chit on crime".

I remember when Larry Godwin was chief and he implemented Operation Blue Crush. They essentially saturated the high crime areas based on data. Well unfortunately that's mostly black neighborhoods so in today's social justice era that's a big no no.

Still remember the Obama DOJ coming to town years ago and declaring there were too many black kids getting in trouble in Memphis City Schools.

 

[GroverCleveland]

Federal money brings federal strings and typically failure.

Hear! Hear!

 

[GroverCleveland]

Politicians bring failure

Federal politicians brings lots of expensive failure.