Category: Issues

Categories
Issues

The long wait

Waiting on Wanda

If there’s one thing we’ve come to expect when it comes to Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert, it’s a long wait.

And here we are waiting again.

Last week, a circuit court judge ruled District Attorney General Coty Wamp of Hamilton County lacked standing in the case against Clerk Halbert. The judge dismissed the ouster petition Wamp had filed in May.

Wamp was appointed as special prosecutor on June 29, 2023.

As we reach the one year anniversary of that appointment this Saturday, we’re back to square one.

“The waiting is the hardest part.”

Tom Petty
Continue reading “The long wait”
Categories
Issues

The Wright amendment

On Wednesday, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris will present his budget proposal, expected to include a funding plan to renovate the Regional One trauma center.

With an unanimous vote last month, the board asked Mayor Harris to do so, while also approving an amendment I proposed, which itemized five conditions for moving forward:

1. Before another dime goes to Regional One, the county must secure match funding from the state or other sources.

2. If there are increased fees, the budget must also include property tax relief as well as spending cuts.

3. The proposal must include a Public Safety Fund (to pay for the action steps itemized in the Crime Commission’s safe community action plan, as previously discussed here).

4. The administration must perform an exhaustive search for alternatives to a wheel tax increase.

5. The mayor must take the plan on the road and share it with citizens, so the public knows what is being proposed.

Here’s what the text of the amendment looked like:

More to come.

Categories
Issues

Crime in Memphis

This week the Shelby County Commission considers two ordinances drafted by a police reform group and sponsored by Commissioner Britney Thornton.

The first is an ordinance “to request that the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office disbands and discontinues future use of all Sheriff’s Office specialized units and task forces and ends participation in multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency task forces.”

The second is an ordinance “requesting the Shelby County Sheriff to: 1) ban biased traffic stops and the use of pretextual traffic stops for low-level violations; 2) limit searches, questioning, and the use of unmarked vehicles; and 3) bar surveillance as an alternative to pretextual traffic stops.”

Neither ordinance would appear to have force beyond making a suggestion to the Shelby County Sheriff, who is separately elected.

However, the Memphis area remains in the grip of a crime crisis, and these suggestions present a risk of signaling that law enforcement should back away from strategic efforts to ensure public safety.

Continue reading “Crime in Memphis”
Categories
Issues

Why Shelby County needs a public safety committee

The following update was originally posted to Facebook on September 18, 2022.

This week the Memphis City Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution requesting help from the Shelby County Sheriff’s office and from the State Highway Patrol.

In committee, Memphis Police Department Chief C.J. Davis told council members the City of Memphis had 1,932 police officers, with a new class of 96 halfway through their training. That would leave the City about 500 officers below their goal of 2,500.

As of the last reported count, Shelby County had 72 vacant deputy sheriff positions, or 10% short of the full complement budgeted for the current fiscal year. There is also an intense and growing need for the county to hire additional corrections employees.

For the past few years, several members of the Shelby County Commission have joined me in addressing these public safety workforce needs.

What follows is a summary of these efforts and a few ideas about what more can be done to improve public safety.

Continue reading “Why Shelby County needs a public safety committee”
Categories
Issues

How we act

In recent days we have seen the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies and partners act swiftly to locate those responsible for the violence that has gripped the City of Memphis.

These heroes deserve our enduring gratitude for the incredible way in which they took coordinated action.

However, these tragic events have also brought to light additional challenges we face as a community when it comes to public safety. We have seen violent offenders being released early, only to return to criminal behavior. We have discovered a new backlog in processing evidence, added to a trial backlog. And we have observed an intense need for additional resources and reforms in the criminal justice system.

The public demands action.

Continue reading “How we act”