DOJ Crime Reduction Roadmap For Memphis Focuses On Planning, Funding Anti-Violence Strategies

Image Credit: ojp.gov & Memphis Police Department / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

The U.S. Department of Justice is bringing its Violent Crime Reduction Initiative to Memphis in an effort to curb rising crime across the city.

The program focuses on 10 essential actions that communities can take to help reduce crimes and provides resources to help to offer support along the way.

The roadmap begins with a commitment to bringing an end to violence and with identification of the source of the majority of the problems. A plan is then created that will engage involved persons and assign responsibility for violence reduction efforts.

Emphasis is placed on trauma-informed practices and creating an atmosphere that promotes anti-violence. There are also resources for obtaining grant funding and allocating that funding to strategies that will work best in each area. 

The goal is to provide a wealth of tools that communities can use to combat violence from gangs and other groups in the city.

Free training will also be offered by the Police Executive Research Forum to help jurisdictions learn to put these strategies into place and to determine exactly what is needed in their specific communities.

According to the Department of Justice, the roadmap can be used to develop new anti-violence programs or it can be used to assess the effectiveness of existing programs.

Kevin Ritz, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, said, “Memphians are sick and tired of gun violence. I am too.”

City officials will continue to work towards a united approach to stopping the violence that is running rampant in Memphis, alongside the Department’s investigation of the Memphis Police Department.