Image Credit: Canva.
Article by the Tennessee Conservative News Staff –
Recently released data shows that Memphis is recording increased crime in October several categories, despite the fact that the Memphis Safe Task Force just reached its one-year mark of working within the city.
This data comes from the City of Memphis Safer Communities Dashboard. While crime overall for the year is lower, a recent uptick in criminal activity has hit the city hard.
Records from the week of October 6-12 showed that the number of murders in the city had increased by 150% over the same time period last year. This year, there were five murders during that week, while there were only two in that week last year.
Aggravated assaults rose from 68 last year to 95 reported for this year, showing an increase of 40%.
Sexual assaults rose 12.5%, with 8 reported last year and 9 reported this year, and motor vehicle thefts increased 49%. Last year, 49 cars were reported stolen during that week, while 73 were reported as stolen this year.
During the week of October 13-19, crime increased by 3% overall.
Data showed the following increases over last year’s numbers during that week:
- Sexual assaults – 66% increase (6 reported last year; 10 reported this year)
- Robbery – 20% increase (15 reported last year; 18 reported this year)
- Motor vehicle theft – 47% increase (51 reported last year; 75 reported this year)
The city also saw the following increases in crime during the week of October 20-26:
- Aggravated assaults – 7% increase (74 reported last year; 79 reported this year)
- Robbery – 88% increase (9 reported last year; 17 reported this year)
- Motor vehicle theft – 83% increase (35 reported last year; 64 reported this year)
Dr. Thaddeus Johnson, senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, told Action News 5 that crime is still taking a toll on Memphis families, even with the addition of the Safe Task Force. He says it is going to take more than policing to fix the crime problem in the city.
“This is a long-term generational thing,” Johnson stated, “And I think what happens is we have to put things in place, policies and interventions in place that can withstand political turnover. Because it shouldn’t depend on who’s in office and how much resources are given to those things.”
Sources:
City of Memphis Safer Communities Dashboard.
