MEMPHIS, Tenn.—The Memphis Police Department (MPD) has announced the premiere of The Memphis Beat, an exciting new television program created to help enhance community awareness and improve public safety by bringing the public and MPD closer together. The program is hosted by WLOK AM 1340 talk show host Chip Washington and features Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis. The show premiered Nov. 16, 11 p.m. CST on WATN ABC24 and will air weekly in the same time slot.
Designed to be upbeat and informative, The Memphis Beat is a 30-minute program with five segments: Listen Up, Locked Up, Call Up, Speak Up, and the concluding Word Up. The Speak Up segment presents questions from the general public that Chief Davis will answer. The public can submit questions to: Memphisbeatquestions@gmail.com.
Trust Marketing CEO and Founder Howard Robertson conceived The Memphis Beat and is the show’s executive producer.
“The idea for the program came out of a meeting with Chief Davis,” Robertson said. “She expressed a desire to truly inform people about our community journey to reduce crime and enhance public safety. I knew there was no better media vehicle to reach Memphians than a regularly scheduled TV program.”
Chief Davis is also the program’s first guest and viewers can learn about her and other guests in the Listen Up segment.
“It’s a great opportunity for our community members to know and understand what’s happening as it relates to public safety and how we should all work together,” she said. “The police department cannot do this work by ourselves.”
The Locked Up segment is expected to drive much viewer interest by focusing on criminal apprehensions and suspect captures that will give the public resolution and closure on numerous high-profile and previously unsolved cases.
Crimestoppers of Memphis and Shelby County, Inc. Executive Director David Wayne Brown is also featured in the premiere show. In the Call Up segment, Brown reports on the hundreds of thousands of dollars Crimestoppers has paid out in 2024 and the number of cases the tips have helped to solve. He also answers the number one concern citizens have about Crimestoppers: how their identity is kept completely anonymous.
“We pay a lot of money every year for software that strips the information for every phone number that comes in,” Brown said. “Whether it’s a text or whether it’s a call, we cannot ever know who is contacting us.”
Chief Davis said, “This is a great way for us to get our community members involved by giving them accurate information. We have seen reductions in all nine precincts. That’s historic. We’re not ready to take a victory lap yet, but our community members are starting to feel it.”
