By Tony Jones
MEMPHIS, TN — First year mayor Paul Young has created a comprehensive task force and announced a war on the crime that has placed a metaphorical straitjacket on the city’s day to day life. At the press conference introducing the initiative to the public, Young made it clear that either the criminals are going to run the city, or the government elected to do so. From legislative input to active-duty responsibilities, the task force ties all the city’s law enforcement channels together to develop an active front.
Flanked by the partnering officials, Young told the public after the task force’s first meeting, “I feel we’re at a tipping point for our community and we’re going to elevate or not. My firm belief is that we will elevate and the way we do it is by being unified.”
In addition to the task force, the mayor said the city is also looking for a new public safety advisor, has plans to create an office of violence prevention, will bolster police led initiatives to corner repeat offenders and more. Specifically addressing violent crime, the mayor said, “It’s a small subset of our population that’s giving Memphis the brand that we’ve seen over the past couple of years and we have to get them off the street,” said Young.
While the task force process is shaping up, there are several bills and lobbying efforts in process across the board addressing the deeper issues behind the crime rate, especially skyrocketing teen violence and rebellion. Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon is crafting efforts with legislators to draft new legislation to increase or in some cases create new penalties for parents, legal guardians or any adult that is aiding in a juvenile’s criminal activity.
Sugarmon states, “If you have a chop shop that’s taking part by encouraging these youth to go out and steal cars for the purpose of putting car parts into commerce there needs to be more accountability there.” The same must apply to juveniles, he says. “It’s educational neglect not to have your child engaged in school, attending school or registered for school and we’re going to look more closely at those ways we can hold parents responsible.”
Sugarmon has reached out to GOP Sen. Brent Taylor (D31) whose Parental Accountability Act made a big splash in the news.The bill provides a $1,000 mandatory fine for parents whose minor children commit two or more crimes. A tonic to many ears in the Black community that feel everyday Black common sense has been ignored for too long, Taylor states about the bill, “Parents need to start acting like raising their children is more than the 20th item on their to-do list!”
Taylor has also opposed recent city ordinances restricting police from stopping vehicles for expired tags, broken taillights, bumpers and similar offenses, therefore the “fast and foolish” drivers racing through Memphis streets running stop signs and stop lights at will, weaving through traffic, riding at night without lights and even turning into streets on the passenger side will continue to do so.
Taylor says he is “excited to work in bi-partisan fashion” with State Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D98) as co-sponsor for the similarly named Parental Responsibility Act increasing from $10,000 to $15,000 the amount a parent or guardian is financially responsible for if their child maliciously or willfully causes personal injury or destroys property. “The purpose of these bills is to convince parents that they have an obligation to their child and to the public.”
Confirming that the bill is in draft stage, Parkinson underlines, “Crime is not an easy lift. At the end of the day, it’s going to take an effort on all of our parts. However, the first line of defense is going to be at home where the children lay their heads. We can’t run around being afraid of our children nor can we let the streets raise them.”
D85 Rep. Jesse Chism’s bill, HB 1602, adds a critical layer to the issue. Scheduled for hearing this week by the full House Criminal Justice Committee, he explains, “This bill provides that when a child has been taken into custody due to suspicion that the child committed a delinquent act or unruly conduct, a law enforcement officer conducting a formal interview or interrogation of the child at a law enforcement facility concerning any violation of state or federal law by the child is required to make a video or audio recording of the interview or interrogation.”
Transparency is the key, Chism said. “As we all know, we’ve seen instances where law enforcement has been said to coerce youth into confessions of guilt due to fear as well as instances of juveniles being said to make untrue statements about the law enforcement officers that have interrogated them. This bill is meant to create a line of transparency that will protect both the law enforcement officer and the youth being questioned for any discrepancies that may occur in the interrogation. Hopefully with this bill we can have a uniformed policy across the state.”
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