The city council has not replied to a letter demanding answers on how to curb crime, Mike Miller, president of the Memphis Restaurant Association, told KWAM Friday.
The letter was also sent to Shelby County commissioners and to both mayors, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.
“We witnessed our community seek shelter, in fear for their lives, while simply attempting to enjoy what our industry offers,” Miller wrote. “We have had staff members shot, restaurants robbed and vandalized, and our patrons’ and employees’ vehicles broken into on seemingly a daily basis.”Miller asked the following questions:
- What specific actions are you taking to address the increase in violent crimes in our city?
- How will you ensure that law enforcement agencies have the necessary resources to combat violent crime in our community?
- How can residents and business owners of our city help support efforts to reduce violent crime?
- What is the current staffing level of Memphis Police Department, and what is the target number of officers?
- What is the plan to achieve these staffing goals?
- When businesses ask for help in additional policing, what should they expect in response?
- What is the policy regarding GSW (gunshot) patients being released from treatment prior to police questioning?
Only one elected official responded to Miller.
Commissioner Mick Wright sent the following letter:
President Miller,Good morning. Thank you for reaching out to us with your letter and your questions. Thank you also for your patience with my response; this message was received while we were in a budget hearing that continued throughout the day.
I want to say first of all that I was proud to stand with restaurant owners and employees while you faced the brunt of the Health Department’s restrictions, and I am eager to stand with you again now as we face what I believe are in part symptoms of the government’s ill-advised approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the extended school closures and stay-at-home orders, the population as a whole and young people in particular were affected, turning away from pro-social activities, experiencing increased mental health disorders, and becoming more truant and more delinquent in their behaviors. I would say this is the unfortunate consequence of a public health system that seized control over our representative system of government and treated human beings as little more than vectors of (a single) disease. What they did was wrong, profoundly and fundamentally wrong. What government did to a generation of youth is unconscionable.
Of course it matters less how we got here and more what we do about it now, but that context is important for one additional reason: maintaining public safety is a core function of government, and how we define and shape public safety policy is a matter of intense interest and concern. We must guard against policy being contorted in some of the same ways now as it was in the recent past. For example, the laws meant to keep people safe should have blanket application, and certain classes of people should not be exempt from following the law because they belong to groups that are politically favored or disfavored. We should not excuse people from breaking laws, or stop enforcing laws, in order to achieve some statistical ideal.While I was unable to respond in full to your message during the budget hearing, I did make reference to your letter during the meeting, specifically when the Shelby County Sheriff’s office was presenting its budget requests. I asked how they are taking part in ensuring the safety and vitality of our dining establishments, and what related opportunities may need to be considered in our budget. This ought to be the question everyone is asking as we move into the heart of the budget process.
Public safety is at the forefront of my mind every day, which is why I pushed in September for us to create a Public Safety Ad Hoc committee. My intent behind that was to give the county a forum in which concerns, problems, solutions, and ideas could be investigated and discussed, so that weeks like we had last Labor Day never occur again. Sadly, there has been little participation in the committee from commissioners, and little accomplished to date. We ought to be bringing in every stakeholder and asking what their issues are, where the gaps are, and what can be done to make this county safer. We ought to have a list of problems matched with a list of solutions and a dollar figure estimate for each. That way, the public could understand what it will really take for us to turn the corner on crime.
A second action we took, and one I believe happened on the city side also, was giving our blessing to the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission’s new Safe Community Action Plan for 2022-2026. Where you say “give us a plan,” I would say there already is one. And I would also tell you this: if any elected official gives you an answer other than this one, that’s a major problem. Either we are committed to the one plan we have, or we aren’t. It makes no sense to have a plan we don’t follow.
The Safe Community Action Plan includes 20 action steps, each with key stakeholders listed who are responsible for implementation. That’s the good news. The bad news is very few of the steps have been completed to date, and the ones that remain incomplete are unfunded. And not only that, we don’t even have an estimate for what it would take to implement them.
That brings me to the next action I took, which was to urge Mayor Lee Harris to include a Public Safety Fund in the FY24 budget. The mayor has made good on that request, and has included $1 million toward one aspect of the plan. This is a good start, but only a start. It’s going to take much more than that to get all 20 action steps accomplished, and 12 of them deal with aspects of county government and our county school system.
I believe citizens and community leaders can have an impact by 1. familiarizing themselves with the Safe Community Action Plan, 2. contributing to aspects of the plan that require support, public involvement and funding, and 3. holding government accountable to implementing the plan.
I am not claiming that every solution to every problem is contained in the plan, nor would I claim that every aspect of the plan will result in the intended effect. However, the only way to determine if the plan will work is to try it out. And when we have done that, we will be able to collect the results and adjust the plan as needed going forward.
Finally, an additional note about the FY24 county budget. This year, Mayor Harris has made new investments in Regional One Health and school buildings the main focus of his administration. While neither a trauma center nor a high school is an immediate answer to crime, I would ask people to consider how these facilities play a role in the overall health and safety of our community. Every shooting and car crash victim is taken to Regional One. And every child who is afforded an education in a clean, sound and healthy place to learn is one less young person on the street, sliding into criminal behavior. But to accomplish these things, we will need public support and assistance from our state and federal representatives, and a willingness to make these investments alongside other public safety needs.
I welcome your ideas, input and suggestions, and I look forward to collaborating with you to restore this great community to a path of peace and prosperity.
Mick Wright
Shelby County Commission – District 3
