Memphis has had enough. Over the past twelve months the city of Memphis has dealt with what feels like an unprecedented number of violent crimes. With the heart breaking death of Eliza Fletcher, a three hour shooting spree that sent the city into a lockdown, and the constant violent car jackings, Memphis has had enough.
Chances are, the evening news will include yet another story of a crime, which will soon be forgotten and replaced by the next story. The news cycles are so rapid, that often the victims names are forgotten or ignored. These victims have turned into yet another statistic and example of how Memphis is becoming alarmingly dangerous.
The whispers spread throughout the weekend of an attempted kidnapping in the Belle Meade neighborhood of East Memphis, after a quick google search of “attempted kidnapping East Memphis” only one news article pertaining to the incident appears. We have now entered a time where an attempted kidnapping only yields one result.
While Memphis has always had a heavy level of crime, the difference is the uptick in violence. A violent cime is catergorized as a homicide, rape, carjacking, or aggrivated assualt. According to the Neighborhood Scout, your “chances of being a victim of a violent crime in the city of Memphis is 1 in 40.” This statistic becomes even more alarming when comparing it to the chances of being a victim of a violent crime in the state of Tennessee, which is “1 in 144.”
So what happens now? We live in a city where we can not control the crime that surrounds us. While we can’t put an end to the crime, we can find ways to avoid it. Essentially young adults are expected to feel safe by bringing pepper spray to a gunfight.
In response to the collective hurt our city has been feeling Hutchison hosted a safety and self defense training seminar. The main theme taught to the mothers and daughters in attendance was to always be aware of your surroundings. Essential activities such as filling your car up with gas, have now become one of the most dangerous activities for a woman.
The vision of the City of Memphis Police Department is “to create and maintain for the City of Memphis an environment of public safety recognized for its zero tolerance for crime and its compassion and responsiveness to the needs, rights, and expectations of all its citizens, employees, and visitors.” It is hard to envision a version of Memphis different from the one we live in today, but we must fight for our city.