MEMPHIS, TN – Reported major violent crimes and reported major property crimes both dramatically dropped more than 20 percent in 2010 compared to 2006, the start of the Operation: Safe Community (OSC) plan to make Memphis and Shelby County one of the safest cities in the country. Both Michelle Fowlkes, executive director of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission, and Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons, credit the strategy-based, team approach to combating crime for the reduction in numbers.
The monthly crime trend report shows a 23.6 percent decrease in the number of reported major violent crimes in the city of Memphis from January 1-December 31, 2010 compared to the same time period in 2006. The report, compiled by the University of Memphis Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, also shows a one-year 14.5 percent decline in reported violent crimes from 2009 to 2010.
Reported major property crimes in Memphis have also fallen since the onset of the OSC action plan. The report shows 26.2 percent fewer property crimes reported from January 1-December 31, 2010 compared to the same time period in 2006 and a one-year drop of 11 percent drop from 2009 to 2010.
The crime trend reduction is being experienced across Shelby County with all jurisdictions combined as well. The report shows a 22.8 percent reduction in major violent crimes in Shelby County from January 1-December 31, 2010 compared to the same time period in 2006 and a 14 percent decrease from 2009 to 2010. Major property crimes plummeted 25.1 percent in Shelby County from January 1-December 31, 2010 compared to the same time period in 2006 and dropped 10 percent from 2009 to 2010.
“We made tremendous progress in 2010, due in large part to key strategies of the OSC plan,” said Commissioner Gibbons who continues to serve as Operation: Safe Community chairman. Specifically, Commissioner Gibbons credits the Memphis Police Department’s Blue Crush data-driven policing; the enactment of tougher sentencing laws for violent crimes; a concerted effort to file public nuisance actions against problem properties; and a team approach to fighting crime, such as the Project Safe Neighborhoods crackdown on convicted felons in possession of firearms.
As 2011 begins, the focus of Operation: Safe Community will be on combating juvenile crime and domestic violence. “These are two specific areas that need additional focus,” said Fowlkes.
“The opening of the Family Safety Center will help us better coordinate our response to domestic violence, a category of crime that is not decreasing in our community,” she added. Reported simple assaults increased 8.7 percent in the city of Memphis and were up 6.2 percent in Shelby County from January 1 – December 31, 2010 as compared to 2006. Most simple assaults are domestic-related.
The major violent crimes included in this report are murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. The major property crimes are burglary, theft offenses, and motor vehicle theft.
The complete Operation: Safe Community monthly crime report for the calendar year 2010 will be sent as a separate document and is also available at
www.operationsafecommunity.org.
