Crime In Memphis Case Study

Over the years, the crime rate in Memphis has continued to rise, bringing Memphis to the top of the list of most dangerous cities in America. The cities crime rate has been one of the biggest reasons that visitors to the city have slowed, less and less people visit Memphis because it is deemed so unsafe (Sauter). The poverty rate and unemployment rate are both among the highest in the country and many believe that these both have a direct correlation to the crime rate in the city. This year, 2018, Memphis rose to number three on the list of most dangerous cities in the country—rising from number nine the two years prior. The crime rate in Memphis alone is more than double the crime rate in the entire state of Tennessee The Memphis Police Department

After the market crash in 2008, the city was left in ruins. Money was low so the reserved money for pension plans for officers and other city projects was used up, the money that would have been used to hire more police officers in the city vanished (Evanoff). The lack of pension plans caused many police officers to leave the force, causing crime to rise even more. Between the poverty rate, unemployment rate, and lack of security from lack of funds; the city has been in bad shape. Evanoff explains that if the city would increase taxes, they could afford more police officers and lower the crime rate substantially but political leaders in the city alone with residents are against a tax increase because it would only further hurt those living at and below the poverty line (Evanoff). The Director of Police in Memphis, Michael Rallings believes that the crime in the city cannot be lowered by just police, he firmly believes that to save the city—the community must work together with the police on their side. Rallings stated that it makes no sense to rely on the police force alone because it is unrealistic to believe that a force of two-thousand officers can patrol a city with a population of six-hundred and thirty-thousand people

Project Safe Neighborhood worked in every major city in the country, to make cities safer and to reduce gun violence (Figg). Project Safe Neighborhood was created by the United States Department of Justice to originally be used throughout the country but was only carried out in each U.S. Attorney Districts (McGarrell). The Project's goal was to reduce gun crime in the United States to make the country safer overall. The Department of Justice allocated three billion dollars for seven years between every city participating. The project began in 2001 and was to last through 2008, working to reduce the gun crimes (McGarrell). Project Safe Neighborhood had multiple different components that were to be followed which were the following: "partnerships, strategic planning and research integration, training, outreach, and accountability". These components would be the backbone of the research conducted and would be extremely helpful in addressing the issues at hand