WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): The Memphis Safe Task Force has finally hit the streets. This week, Trump Administration officials "unleashed" the authorities. With us to talk about that and other topics is political analyst Otis Sanford. Welcome back.
OTIS SANFORD: Thank you, Chris. Good to be here.
BLANK: Otis, I've heard so many different takes on this locally, that I'd like to see if we can dig into a range of viewpoints here. So, let's start by imagining we're a couple of guys guys who are just exhausted by all the crime. We earnestly want Memphis to be better. What do we hope the task force will accomplish? SANFORD: Let's assume that we're a couple of reasonable guys, Chris.
BLANK: Okay.
SANFORD: That being the case, and we are exhausted by the crime, we hope that this task force will make a dent in lowering crime to the point where we see dangerous criminals and those who are have outstanding warrants -- we want to see them arrested and kept off the streets. But we also don't want to infringe on anybody's constitutional rights at the same time. That's what we want to have happen.
BLANK: And thinking about that, let's say that we are city leaders. Now, we we need the help here. We know that. Maybe this amount of help is a little bit too much. But what are our political concerns as this task force plays out?
SANFORD: If I'm an elected official and I'm having some concerns about this and didn't say anything about it--and let's say something does happen where somebody's constitutional rights is infringed, someone who's innocent of a crime is caught up and arrested, or even worse, if someone is just monitoring what this task force is doing by taking video in a public place and then they get arrested and hauled to jail -- then that's a political problem for me, if I'm an elected official. That would be my worry.
BLANK: Well, the last perspective here, we are a city with a civil rights history. Some of us, at least, know that history. You hear rhetoric like letting "cops be cops again" or "zero tolerance" or "liberating" law abiding citizens from crime. Does the wording sour the intention for you at all?
SANFORD: Absolutely it does, Chris. You know, that was part of the most dangerous rhetoric that I heard, talking in very, very stark and aggressive and even offensive tones about unleashing these law enforcement people in a city where we have seen too much excessive force. I mean, we're still dealing with the after-effects of the Tyre Nichols murder. And so those were dangerous words. They should not have been uttered, and it does no good in a city like this with the history that we have.
BLANK: Well, another political drama that's been cooking up on the sidelines. Republicans across the board are picking up a talking point that seems, to me, entirely concocted by State Sen. Brent Taylor that if this effort doesn't work completely, the only one to blame will be Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy. And in a Senate hearing, Sen.Taylor went so far as to say that when the feds leave, Mulroy will release all the prisoners. What's happening here?
SANFORD: Steve Mulroy is living rent-free in Brent Taylor's head. This is outrageous rhetoric by someone who just cannot give up the fact that he is fixated on Steve Mulroy to the point where he is just saying some unreasonable and frankly some dangerous things here, Chris. You know, we have people in our society who have shown that they have a propensity for violence, and a lot of it is based on harsh rhetoric. Sen. Taylor needs to be careful about his comments, and frankly they're quite dangerous and he should stop it.
BLANK: Finally, let me get your thoughts on the big news that the state Comptroller did not approve the county budget, which means the county can't issue debt to fund capital improvement projects. F irst time ever this has happened to a Tennessee county. Why is this important?
SANFORD: You know, when I first heard about this, Chris, I sort of thought that there was some political machinations going on here because County Mayor Lee Harris is not a big fan of Gov. Bill Lee and vice versa. They've had their run-ins lately. But there's nothing in my history with Jason Mumpower to suggest that he will let politics get in the way of his job. Plus, the office said in the past that they had warned the county government about making sure that their procedures were right in crafting and passing a budget and they did not do it again in this case. So, I'm not all that worried about this, especially when the county is saying that they don't have any plans to levy any bonds in the next fiscal year anyway. I don't know if that's true or not because we have a lot of projects on the burner that we've talked about -- you know, the jail and the hospital and schools. But at this point, I'm not overly concerned about it, but it is something that the public should keep an eye on.
