Interview with Bill Gibbons, president of the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission and Executive Director of the Public Safety Institute at the University of Memphis.
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): If you were to poll a cross-section of Shelby County voters on the most important issues facing our community, crime is number one on the list. So said 32% of respondents in a recent survey. But the numbers also show that attitudes toward public safety are changing for the better. With us to talk about that is Bill Gibbons, president of the Memphis-Shelby County Crime Commission. Thanks for joining us, Bill.
BILL GIBBONS: Glad to be with you.
BLANK: Bill, two years ago more than half of the people surveyed said crime was our biggest problem. Now it's just under a third. What would you say is the biggest factor in that change?
GIBBONS: Well, I think that the fact that we've made progress over the last two years, really beginning in 2024. And I think people are feeling a little bit better about safety in our community. I's still a big concern and we have a long way to go.
BLANK: The last survey was taken in the wake of the Tyre Nichols incident, which infuriated people on the left, while on the right, MPD was criticized for policies seen as too lenient, especially when it came to, like, traffic enforcement. What happened in the last few years to improve the view of policing in our community?
GIBBONS: Well, I think MPD has really made an effort to engage in the community, and I think that's making a big difference. In terms of traffic enforcement, the increased presence of our state troopers in the community has had an impact on traffic enforcement. In a positive way, I think most people appreciate that.
BLANK: Right. And your recent survey does come in the middle of the Memphis Safe Task Force. Behind the scenes, I wonder how are folks in local law enforcement navigating the politics of everything that's happening right now?
GIBBONS: Well, delicately, I would say. You know, what what the survey indicates -- and it was a survey done by Public Opinion Strategies -- which is a organization with a good reputation. Overall, there is fairly strong support, I believe 58%, in believing that the Memphis Safe Task Force has made the community safer. A sub part of that is whether or not the crackdown on undocumented immigrants has made the community safer.
And in that case, the majority felt that it had not. So that's kind of a difference there. Again, overall support for the Memphis Safe Task Force, but not for the crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
BLANK: Last week, President Trump made a claim during his visit to Memphis that in the next couple of months, Memphis could be "virtually crime-free." How realistic is that statement? GIBBONS: We have a long way to go as Mayor Young has pointed out. We're not where we need to be. In fact, I hope I'm wrong about this, but when the FBI comes out with its uniform crime report in the next couple of months for 2025. It will not surprise me if Memphis continues to be in the top five among major cities in our crime rate. That will not surprise me at all. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but it won't surprise me.
BLANK: Mayor Paul Young and other city leaders have said that public safety is more complicated than just arresting the bad guys. That there has to be some social intervention. So, looking ahead, what kind of recipe is needed for long-term success in public safety after the task force starts to wind down?
GIBBONS: Well, a couple of things on that. First of all, just to piggyback on what you just alluded to, Mayor Young is putting a lot of effort into what's called the Gun Violence Reduction Initiative. And in part, that involves focusing on the worst of the worst, those who are responsible for a lot of our violent crime, either directly or indirectly because of their influence over others. But part of that is really making an effort to change their behavior, which kind of gets to the predicate of your question. It's kind of a carrot-and-stick approach. We know who you are, we know what you've been doing, we will hold you accountable, but we want to help you move in the right direction and make sure that our service is available for those individuals who want to do so. He's putting a lot of effort into that. And by the way, that's part of the Local Safe Community action plan, which the crime commission oversees sees and advocates.
Another part of the Memphis Safe Task Force that I think most people want to see continue is the presence of state troopers. The survey reflected that. A majority of respondents either want the number of state troopers to remain the same, which is about 100, or to increase. Because I think most in the community understand the importance of that kind of traffic enforcement.
Another part of the Memphis Safe Task Force that we did not ask about in the survey, but I think it is important to continue, is working down the number of outstanding felony arrest warrants. And the US Marshal Service, in particular, has been very helpful in that. So I think it's important to try to continue that kind of assistance from the US Marshal Service.
