Memphis Fast Forward

The International Association of chiefs of Police has recognized the MPD’s Real time Crime Center (RTCC) with an award for Excellence in Law Enforcement Communications and Interoperability.  Local law enforcement officials say that the RTCC, a foundation of Operation: Safe Community’s date-driven policing strategy, is a key factor in the area’s 10% drop in serious crimes compared to the same time period last year.

At the MPD’s RTCC, analysts survey activity on video monitors from cameras across the city, including bridges, interstates, and neighborhoods.  The IACP-iXP Excellence in Technology Award Program recognizes law enforcement agencies’ superior achievement and innovation in the field on communication and information technology.  Future coverage in Police Chief magazine and other IACP promotional vehicles will help showcase the MPD’s leading-edge use of technology to improve public safety.

For More Information Contact: John Harvey at john.harvey@memphistn.gov

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Project SAFEWAYS, a multi-pronged approach to reducing crime in apartment complexes, is underway at Autumn Ridge Apartments through a public and private partnership between LEDIC Management Group, Southeast Memphis CDC and local law enforcement agencies.  Funded in part by the U.S. Department of Justice, Project SAFEWAYS is a data-driven policing strategy that uses state-of-the-art surveillance equipment at the MPD’s Real Time Crime Center.

The initiative combines a wide range of resources to address gang and criminal activity within apartment communities.  Strategies include the District Attorney’s new No Trespass program, which allows police to work with property owners and managers to keep persons who are not residents or guests removed from the property; license plate readers on police cars connected to the Real Time Crime Center; site-based services that help residents; regular information-sharing on crime patterns, problem tenants and other relevant issues with MPD and among apartment managers; and training on implementing other “best practices” for property management including tenant marketing and screening, lease provisions and eviction guidelines.

Credited as the first of its type in the country, according to Pierce Ledbetter, LEDIC Management Group CEO and president, the 6-week old program has motivated a number of historically disruptive tenants to move out of the complex.

For More Information Contact: Linda Miller (901) 527-2600

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From August ‘08 through February ‘09, serious offenses throughout the MCS have dropped more than 17 percent, with a 19 percent drop in the 13 high-incident high schools.  This positive trend is attributed to a comprehensive array of new school safety strategies, a cornerstone of the Operation: Safe Community plan.

The district’s $10 million security initiative includes student ID badges, surveillance equipment, metal detectors and specially trained staff.  The effort also features an innovative pilot program to keep students with minor offenses from entering the criminal justice system where they become at greater risk for committing future crimes.  The School House Adjustment Program Enterprise (SHAPE) partners MCS, social service agencies and churches to help students get back on a positive track.  The pilot is serving more than 100 students in 17 city high schools and one middle school.

For More Information Contact: Gerald Darling (901) 416-5628

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Memphis has been awarded $11.5 million with an opportunity to receive another $13.2 million in federal funds to prevent and curb neighborhood blight, one of the key crime-fighting strategies of Operation: Safe Community.

Foreclosed properties in distressed areas will be bought and developed with $11.5 million in Neighborhood Stabilization grant funds to Memphis from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.  Preventing these properties from becoming abandoned and blighted will help maintain neighborhood property values and prevent the crime that tends to move into blighted areas.  Efforts will be further bolstered with up to $13.2 million in this year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for the Memphis Housing Authority.

For More Information Contact: Robert Lipscomb (901) 544-1102

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Operation: Safe Community reports that property and violent crime in 2008 in Shelby County was down by 5.3% since 2006.  Crime drops were even greater in the city of Memphis, with a 6.6% drop in property crime and 5.9% drop in violent crimes.  Operation: Safe Community’s 15 research-based crime reduction strategies are viewed as key contributors to the lower crime rates.

The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission oversees implementation of Operation: Safe Community.  OSC program executive Linda K. Miller observes that “Operation: Safe Community’s 15 research-based strategies to reduce crime, including data-driven policing, aggressive prosecution as well as a host of intervention strategies for at-risk youth and ex-offenders, are key contributors to the reduction in crime in Memphis and Shelby County.”

The University of Memphis, which compiled the crime rate data, also reports that historically problem precincts including Ridgeway, Airways and Tillman all saw double-digit reductions in violent crime incidents reported from 2006 through 2008.

Experts note that successful OSC strategies include the Memphis Police Department’s Blue C.R.U.S.H. initiative, which uses data to target police resources where they are needed; the reintroduction of the MPD’s undercover program; the implementation of the Real Time Crime Center that gives MPD officers instant information they need to prevent and solve crimes; and a radio and television campaign to deter criminals.

For More Information Contact: Linda Miller (901) 527-2600

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The Memphis City Council will allow MPD to hire police officers who live within 20 miles of Memphis to help meet the department’s hiring goal of 2600 officers by June, 2011.  Other measures adopted to support officer hiring include relocation allowances and tuition reimbursements.  As of January, 2009, MPD had 2,118 officers, and projects 2,296 by July, partly due to the advertising campaign MPD launched last October.

The Council will soon review recommendations from the city’s Human Resources Department to enhance the recruiting and hiring process, as well as a new program from the city’s Housing and Community Development division to help new and current police officers buy homes in Memphis.

 For More Information Contact: Linda Miller (901) 527-2600

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United States Senator Lamar Alexander joined local Operation: Safe Community leaders in a recent announcement of more than $14 million in new federal, state and local funding for the crime fighting plan.  Also announced were Team Leaders from local and state governments committed to implementing the comprehensive public safety component of Memphis Fast Forward, which aims to make Memphis and Shelby County one of the safest communities of its size.

District Attorney Bill Gibbons, who chairs the Operation: Safe Community effort, called the new funding and announcement of Team Leaders “major steps showing our joint commitment to get this plan implemented.”

Alexander spearheaded an effort for a special federal appropriation to support Operation: Safe Community.  He was supported by U.S. Senator Bob Corker, Congressman Steve Cohen, and other members of the Tennessee congressional delegation.  The new funding announced by the group totals $14,773,918, with over $2 million in recent grants from the Memphis City Council.

Gibbons notes that implementation of the plan was “in its second critical year” and the addition of Team Leaders was critical to continued momentum.  In addition to District Attorney Gibbons, Operation: Safe Community Team Leaders include: County Commission Mike Carpenter; Memphis City Schools Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash; City Councilman Harold Collins; State Representative John DeBerry; City of Memphis Community Enhancement Director Ernest Dobbins; City Councilman Shea Flinn; Memphis Police Department Director Larry Godwin; City Councilman Reid Hedegpeth; University of Memphis Professor of Criminology Richard Janikowski; State Senator Jim Kyle; Acting U.S. Attorney Larry Laurenzi; Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell; County Commissioner Diedre Malone; State Senator Mark Norris; Juvenile Court Judge Curtis Person; Shelby County Schools Superintendent Bobby Webb; and County Mayor A C Wharton.

For More Information Contact: Jennifer Donnals (901) 545-5988

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The MPD has launched two new Real Time Crime Center programs that bring in surveillance data from throughout the city to fight crime.  By tapping into video from private security cameras and collecting license plate scans sent from its patrol cars, the MPD continues to build on Fast Forward’s data-driven policing strategy to keep citizens safer.

The Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) will collect video streams from private surveillance cameras from industrial and commercial sites.  The images will be used to track criminals or collect information as part of an investigation.

MPD is also investing in devices that will sit on top of Memphis squad cars to scan license plates.  The information will be transmitted to the RTCC to check against multiple databases for a range of offenses, including vehicle theft, outstanding warrants, and other criminal activities.  If there’s a match, officers on the streets are instantly notified.  MPD plans to add 65 such devices next year.

For More Information Contact: Monique Martin (901) 545-3024

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School safety and security is a top priority as MCS starts the school year, with a new security chief, metal detectors in all middle and high schools, more police officers and monitors walking the halls, high-tech ID badges to keep track of students, and school staff trained in violence prevention and early intervention.

About 500 metal detectors are being used for screenings in middle and high schools throughout MCS.  New high-tech student ID badge help administrators ensure students are where they are supposed to be.

Seventy-seven police officers are walking the halls, with plans for 29 more by December.  The 12 schools where most serious incidents occur are staffed with experienced, specialized officers that have received at least 480 hours of training.  These schools also have more hall monitors.

This past summer, hundreds of teachers learned prevention and intervention strategies to increase school safety.  Gang prevention and intervention training is planned for all administrators.  Finallly, MCS is also conducting a study to find out where more security is needed as the foundation of a comprehensive school safety and security plan.

For More Information Contact: Kriner Cash (901) 416-5300

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In the first half of 2008, violent crime in Shelby County was down 8.08% and property crime 3.31% compared to the same time period in 2006, the year before Operation Safe Community was launched.  While recently released FBI rankings for 2007 put Memphis at number two in the country for violent crime, our continuing downward trend bodes well for 2008.

For More Information Contact: Linda Miller (901) 527-2600

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