WEBVTT
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- (female announcer)
Production funding for
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Behind the Headlines
is made possible in part by
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the WKNO Production Fund,
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the WKNO Endowment Fund
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and by viewers
like you, thank you.
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- Memphis Mayor Jim
Strickland tonight,
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on Behind the Headlines.
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[intense orchestral music]
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I'm Eric Barnes with
The Daily Memphian,
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and thanks for joining us.
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I am joined tonight by
Mayor Jim Strickland.
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Thanks for being here again.
- Thank you for having me.
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- Along with Bil Dries,
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reporter with
The Daily Memphian.
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We'll talk a lot
tonight about crime.
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Crime obviously, is
huge on people's mind.
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It's a national increase.
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It's a very disturbing
local increase.
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We may touch a bit on
the Young Dolph shooting,
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the rapper who was
shot Wednesday.
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I should note that we're taping
this on Thursday morning,
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so there could be other
things that develop in that,
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because obviously it's
a fast-moving story.
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Let me start big picture,
and we had Amy Weirich,
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Shelby County
District Attorney on,
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I think last week, talking
about some of these issues.
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There's a three year
increase in violent crime.
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It's up 30% since 2018.
Murders are up 80% since 2018.
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Aggravated assaults up 50%.
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There are some categories
of crime that are down,
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which I think sometimes
surprises people,
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but you ran on, you're
now in your second term,
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what, you're six
years in give or take,
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ran on fighting crime and
addressing the crime problem.
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Going back, let's go back
with a hypothetical here
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to the beginning of your term,
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if you'd known a
couple of key things,
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if you'd known that hiring,
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that increasing the
size of the police force
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would be so difficult.
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It's really basically
been static,
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and it's been static
nationally, right?
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It's been a huge national
problem hiring police force,
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losing police members.
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If you'd known the legislature
was gonna increase access
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to guns so dramatically,
and those are legal ways,
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but every law enforcement
person who has come on the show
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over the last five
years has said,
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Those legal guns are ending
up in the hands of criminals
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through theft, and so on
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and has created a huge
amount of gun crime.
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And if you'd known
the impossible,
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which that this kind
of societal pandemic
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and the upheaval of the
last two years would happen,
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looking back at the
crime strategies
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you all have implemented,
what would you do differently?
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- Well, first let me
reframe it a little bit.
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Not only crime was
reduced in 2017 to 2018,
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2018 to 2019, and we were
hiring more police officers
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and crime was going down,
then the pandemic hit.
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You kind of framed it around
2018. I'm moving up to 2019.
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Pre-pandemic, we were heading
in the right direction,
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and I think everything that
we've done has been correct.
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If I did anything differently,
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I wish we had started
violence interruption earlier.
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- What is violence
interruption when you say that?
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- That is a program that
other cities have used
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where it's high
touch intervention
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with the young people
who are in gangs
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or thinking about
getting in gangs
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or in some kind of groups,
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now that's the new
theory, groups.
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They aren't official gangs
and intervene with them,
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high touch, meaning often,
several times a week.
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- With police, with social--
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- Well, it's people
trained, non-police,
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trained to do that
kind of intervention
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to pull them outside
the life of crime.
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- Private sector or are those
city or county employees?
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- They are a nonprofit.
Those are nonprofits.
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- So working with
nonprofit centers.
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- Yeah, we've had it for awhile,
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but they only had 13 employees.
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We use some of the
federal money that we got
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and to bump that
up, and July 1,
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we started and gave
them more money.
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They've hired up to 25 now,
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and they're going up to
50 here before Christmas,
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and I would have liked to
have started that earlier.
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Pre-pandemic, Oakland,
California, reduced gun violence
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by 50% through this program,
or one of the things.
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- Through that program, okay.
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But again, looking
forward, COVID time warp.
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You've got a year and a half
left and you're termed out?
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- Two years and one month.
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- Two years and one month
left, sorry about that.
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I'm not trying to
get you out sooner.
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[Jim laughing]
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I just don't have
good time anymore.
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It seems unlikely
though that the,
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I mean, the level
of police force
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is kind of chugging
along at around 2000.
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Again, I mean, that's
a national phenomenon
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and what happens
next with getting
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the crime rate back down?
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I mean, is it just getting back
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to the things you
were doing before,
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or is there a new world
with post-pandemic
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and the rise in juvenile crime?
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I assume you feel it.
I hear it all the time.
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I mean, it is a catastrophe.
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- I do live in the
city, so I do feel it,
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and I've been concerned
about this and working on it
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for almost six years, and even
before that on City Council,
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so this is not new to me.
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Let me talk about police and
then the big challenge we have.
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Police, we had gotten down to
almost 1900 police officers
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early in my term.
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We had increased
that in 2019 to 2,100,
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a net increase of
almost 200 officers
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going into the pandemic.
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Since the pandemic,
we've had a net decrease
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of about a hundred, or maybe
even more than a hundred.
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The pandemic has really
devastated our recruiting
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and retention efforts.
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We've had more retire
and more resign
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over the last year
and a half. I don't--
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- Was it the George
Floyd protests?
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- Yes.
- People say that.
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I don't know if you see that.
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- I think that's obviously
negatively affected,
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people don't want to
be police officers now.
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So, we're down under
2,000 officers now,
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and we've wanted
to get to 2,500.
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S,o pre-pandemic, we were at
2,100, in the right direction,
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pandemic, other
things have happened.
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The big challenge though that
we have is state law is weak.
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State law allows easy and
widespread access to guns,
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while it does not punish the
wrongful use of those guns.
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- But is there any reason
to believe that will change?
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- The second part, maybe.
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I mean, no, we're not
gonna be able to pull back
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the lack of gun regulations,
but for instance,
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when they allowed guns in cars,
theft from guns skyrocketed.
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This year alone, we've
had about 1500 guns
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stolen out of vehicles.
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People are not stealing
guns to go hunting.
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They're stealing guns to
then commit more crimes.
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People must lock up their guns.
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Let's go to the second
issue, state law.
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This is some examples
of state law.
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I shoot a gun at you,
then don't hit you,
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no mandatory jail time on me
'cause of weak state laws.
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Somebody charged with first
degree murder got out on bond
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that should never be
allowed to get out on bond.
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Somebody convicted
for eight years.
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They get out in two years.
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The third year, they
commit a murder,
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and I'm gonna write about that
in this week a weekly update.
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State law is weak and
young people are laughing
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at the situation.
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201 Poplar's a revolving door.
07:24.044 --> 07:26.680
Juvenile court is even
more of a revolving door,
07:26.680 --> 07:29.983
and juvenile court
needs more money
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to do more intervention
with these young people
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instead of just
revolving door.
07:34.054 --> 07:35.789
- Let me get Bill in here.
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- Mayor, let's talk about
some immediate stuff
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as we record this the
day after the shooting
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and killing of Young Dolph.
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Some folks have called
for a curfew of some kind.
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Should there be a curfew?
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- Well at this point, no,
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but you know, you
always keep that option.
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It was a horribly tragic event,
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what happened to Young Dolph,
but it was a targeted killing.
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And with targeted killings,
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what we try to do is to
avoid the retaliation,
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and that's a limited
number of people.
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That's not a city-wide
emergency situation
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where you'd have to do a curfew.
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So what we do is the
police, the gang unit,
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the interveners that I
talked about earlier,
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try to intervene to try
to stop a retaliation.
08:37.050 --> 08:38.418
There's a limited
number of people,
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limited number of places.
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We did have an increased
police presence
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in those targeted areas
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that we thought were
needed last night,
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and that will continue.
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Now, we always have the option,
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but we just didn't think,
and overnight really,
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nothing happened
associated with that case.
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- And let me also
clarify again to people
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that we are recording
this Thursday morning.
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The shooting was Wednesday,
just so you don't,
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'cause again, this
will air on Friday.
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Go ahead, Bill.
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- Did your counselors
with the group violence
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intervention effort that
we've been talking about,
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did they have an
opportunity to go out
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after the shooting
and do some work?
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- Yes, I talked to the
lead, and they were onsite,
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and then they were elsewhere,
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trying to tamp down
any retaliation,
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but so were our police officers.
09:33.206 --> 09:37.410
- There were two other attempts
on this young man's life
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in different cities.
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Are the areas that
you're looking at
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to watch and try to
avoid any retaliation,
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are these people who are
suspects in this shooting
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or do you know at this point?
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- I don't know, I don't
know all the places
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where we have increased
police presence,
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but there's two groups,
as I understand it,
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who have a beef with each other,
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and there are many members
associated with those groups,
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and all are being
talked to as much
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as they'll allow
to be talked to,
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and there are certain areas
that could be hotspots
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that have increased
police presence.
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- Let's talk about
hotspots, I guess
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and another element of crime
that I hear about constantly
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from people and see it some,
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which is the state of the
highways and the streets
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in terms of drag racing,
reckless driving.
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And one of the things
I accidentally joked
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with DA Weirich last week,
but I meant it actually,
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which was that I
was driving out here
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to the studio out
east on the highway,
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and I thought to myself,
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well, if I drive 75,
I might get a ticket.
10:48.214 --> 10:50.316
If I go up to a hundred,
I'm not gonna get a ticket,
10:50.316 --> 10:53.152
because right now the police
force has said, by and large,
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they're not gonna chase
down people doing a hundred.
10:55.955 --> 10:57.524
And as I was driving
out last week,
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multiple people passed me going
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clearly 90 to 100 miles an hour,
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just based on what I could see.
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There's a moral hazard in there,
11:05.498 --> 11:09.936
that people know they're
not gonna get pulled over,
11:09.936 --> 11:12.972
and so it seems to
be a vicious cycle
11:12.972 --> 11:15.808
of more people speeding, more
people doing dangerous things.
11:15.808 --> 11:18.711
The word is out that they're
not gonna get chased.
11:18.711 --> 11:23.116
How does that, and that's even
separate above the shootings
11:23.116 --> 11:24.350
that are going on,
on the highway.
11:24.350 --> 11:26.586
So how do we get control
of the highways again?
11:26.586 --> 11:30.056
- Well, we have
good news recently,
11:30.056 --> 11:31.591
just in the last
couple of weeks.
11:31.591 --> 11:34.761
I think Bill actually was the
first one to write the story.
11:34.761 --> 11:38.898
We've been asking for years
that the state take ownership
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of the state property,
which are the interstates.
11:42.235 --> 11:46.272
Those aren't city streets,
but through tradition,
11:46.272 --> 11:49.142
the city has been leaned
on to patrol them,
11:49.142 --> 11:51.444
respond to accidents
and all that.
11:51.444 --> 11:54.981
We had no permanent presence
of highway patrol officers.
11:54.981 --> 11:57.750
- And haven't for decades.
- For decades.
11:57.750 --> 12:00.887
So we're getting that now.
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There's 12, not long ago,
12:02.956 --> 12:05.925
it was about 6 highway
patrol officers, it's up to 12.
12:05.925 --> 12:09.662
It's gonna be 16 this
summer and more beyond that,
12:09.662 --> 12:12.098
and what you'll see is the
highway patrol officers there
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instead of us, and
then we can have more
12:14.500 --> 12:16.336
patrolling the streets.
12:16.336 --> 12:19.339
- I've heard Chief
Davis, now 103 months,
12:19.339 --> 12:21.374
the new Police Chief,
speak about the need
12:21.374 --> 12:24.377
for more technology
and IDing cameras,
12:24.377 --> 12:25.778
cameras on the highways,
12:25.778 --> 12:27.313
and I guess maybe
potentially on the streets
12:27.313 --> 12:28.548
that ID the license plates,
12:28.548 --> 12:30.049
and you try to track
the people down later,
12:30.049 --> 12:32.652
versus chasing them
down the highway.
12:32.652 --> 12:34.554
- Well yeah, let's talk
about why we don't chase.
12:34.554 --> 12:35.788
- Yeah, yeah, please.
12:35.788 --> 12:37.924
- Because I do get some
questions about that.
12:39.158 --> 12:41.628
We don't do high speed chases
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and other police
departments too,
12:43.096 --> 12:45.598
like Bartlett, I know for
sure it doesn't do it,
12:45.598 --> 12:50.136
unless it's a dangerous felon,
and that's a different story.
12:50.136 --> 12:52.205
But if it's just
someone speeding,
12:53.406 --> 12:57.310
you chase them,
there some chance
12:57.310 --> 12:58.811
that they're gonna lose control
12:58.811 --> 13:00.179
and hurt somebody and kill
somebody, and it's happened--
13:00.179 --> 13:01.614
- And the police officer
could lose control
13:01.614 --> 13:03.082
and hurt somebody and
that's been a problem--
13:03.082 --> 13:06.185
- But the more likely thing
is the untrained driver,
13:06.185 --> 13:08.955
often young people,
will lose control
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and hit somebody and kill them,
13:10.256 --> 13:12.325
and that's where
it's not worth it.
13:12.325 --> 13:17.330
But, until last spring,
cameras on the interstate
13:18.431 --> 13:20.533
to do the license plate
reads was illegal.
13:20.533 --> 13:22.502
We got a law changed
to allow that,
13:22.502 --> 13:24.370
because it's state
owned property.
13:24.370 --> 13:26.105
Now that's allowed.
We're pricing it out.
13:26.105 --> 13:28.174
- Okay, and those
will be city run
13:28.174 --> 13:29.509
or in partnership
with the state?
13:29.509 --> 13:30.777
- We haven't decided yet.
13:30.777 --> 13:33.880
- Okay, switch to
the city streets,
13:33.880 --> 13:37.116
[stammering] what do you do?
13:37.116 --> 13:39.085
It's the same rules for
people speeding down Poplar
13:39.085 --> 13:41.320
or speeding down Union or
speeding down the Airways, so--
13:41.320 --> 13:43.156
- Obviously, it's cost--
13:43.156 --> 13:45.024
- Of the cameras to ID them.
13:45.024 --> 13:48.995
- Yes, and we have thousands
of cameras out right now.
13:48.995 --> 13:51.297
- The SkyCop cameras?
- The SkyCop cameras.
13:51.297 --> 13:52.899
- But they don't
ID license plates,
13:52.899 --> 13:57.603
I mean there just kinda low
res surveillance cameras.
13:57.603 --> 14:00.406
- All police vehicles have
license plate readers,
14:00.406 --> 14:01.574
and what you're talking about
14:01.574 --> 14:03.743
is putting license
plate readers elsewhere,
14:03.743 --> 14:06.212
like a permanent,
it's just a cost,
14:06.212 --> 14:07.714
so we'll see how much it costs.
14:07.714 --> 14:09.082
- Is there anything else
before I go back to Bill,
14:09.082 --> 14:10.850
like in city streets,
that can be done
14:10.850 --> 14:12.351
to regain control
of the streets?
14:12.351 --> 14:15.488
- Oh, we've probably put a
thousand or more speed humps
14:16.589 --> 14:18.658
down Riverside
Drive, other places,
14:18.658 --> 14:22.762
not just downtown, other places
to try to slow people down.
14:22.762 --> 14:24.097
- Are they working?
- Yeah.
14:24.097 --> 14:25.765
I mean, in the places
where they have it.
14:25.765 --> 14:27.934
- Yeah, okay, Bill.
14:29.368 --> 14:32.238
- Several City Council members
have talked about going back
14:32.238 --> 14:36.476
to the residency issue on
police and where they live.
14:36.476 --> 14:38.177
Is there gonna be
a push for that,
14:39.212 --> 14:40.847
before the Council I should say?
14:42.749 --> 14:44.717
- We'll see, I hope so.
14:44.717 --> 14:46.519
It may be a first start
14:46.519 --> 14:50.823
with a private behind the
scenes push before it's public,
14:50.823 --> 14:52.125
but it ought to be.
14:52.125 --> 14:55.661
I mean, remember, like I said,
14:55.661 --> 14:58.598
2018, 2019, we
were low on crime.
14:58.598 --> 15:03.536
2020, we said, "Let's
widen the residency rule."
15:04.670 --> 15:07.640
They said, "No,"
and then we've seen
15:07.640 --> 15:08.875
what's happening to crime.
15:08.875 --> 15:10.877
Now, I'm not saying it's
a direct correlation,
15:10.877 --> 15:14.180
but I think I said
to you or someone,
15:14.180 --> 15:18.551
"The Council's vote not
to allow the public to vote
15:18.551 --> 15:21.354
on widening residency
has not aged well."
15:21.354 --> 15:24.157
I mean, we see what
happened to crime.
15:24.157 --> 15:26.292
We see what's happened
to our police ranks,
15:26.292 --> 15:27.860
which has shrunk since then.
15:27.860 --> 15:31.564
We need help. We need
to be able to hire.
15:31.564 --> 15:34.934
Most every major
city in the country
15:34.934 --> 15:38.271
is allowed to hire officers
outside the county,
15:38.271 --> 15:39.806
and we need the help.
15:39.806 --> 15:41.174
We should be able to do it.
15:42.542 --> 15:44.744
- If the Council
reverses course on it,
15:44.744 --> 15:48.648
and the votes were
there on the Council
15:48.648 --> 15:50.950
to not only rescind
the referendum,
15:50.950 --> 15:53.853
but also to override
your veto of this,
15:55.221 --> 15:56.889
it's gonna take some time.
15:56.889 --> 16:01.394
Is it enough to say, "Let's
increase the number of police,"
16:02.495 --> 16:05.097
given how long
it's going to take?
16:05.097 --> 16:08.501
Do you need a plan B to that?
16:08.501 --> 16:10.236
- Oh, we're already
executing on that.
16:10.236 --> 16:12.972
That's why we have a
$15,000 signing bonus
16:12.972 --> 16:16.843
for all new police officers,
$10,000 moving expense
16:16.843 --> 16:18.411
if somebody comes in
from in out of town,
16:18.411 --> 16:22.682
fifteen thousand dollar
home purchase assistance,
16:22.682 --> 16:24.550
if they buy a house in Memphis.
16:24.550 --> 16:27.119
That's more money than
any city in the world.
16:27.119 --> 16:30.890
We're aggressively going out
there to different cities.
16:30.890 --> 16:35.027
We did a 9% bonus for police
officers and firefighters.
16:35.027 --> 16:37.964
We're now, I think
we're in the first year,
16:37.964 --> 16:39.765
and then two more years of 9%.
16:39.765 --> 16:41.734
We've raised their salary.
16:41.734 --> 16:44.604
We will continue
to do all we can
16:44.604 --> 16:47.240
to make it a good place to
work to recruit those officers.
16:47.240 --> 16:49.775
- But we're holding steady.
16:49.775 --> 16:54.480
I mean, this seems to be a
larger problem than it seemed.
16:54.480 --> 16:55.948
- Oh, there's no doubt.
16:55.948 --> 16:57.416
It's kind of what Eric
and I were talking about.
16:57.416 --> 16:59.685
Fewer people are applying
to be police officers.
17:00.987 --> 17:03.856
Almost every police
department across the country
17:03.856 --> 17:07.093
is struggling to
hire and to retain.
17:07.093 --> 17:10.296
So many current
officers are deciding
17:10.296 --> 17:12.164
they want a different
way to make a living.
17:12.164 --> 17:16.903
And then the general,
it's hard for the FedExs
17:18.170 --> 17:20.239
and the AutoZones to hire.
17:20.239 --> 17:23.276
Everyone is having a
hard time hiring people.
17:23.276 --> 17:26.078
City government, non police
and fire, we're having--
17:26.078 --> 17:28.447
- Online local newspapers
are struggling to hire,
17:28.447 --> 17:29.882
I mean, really.
17:29.882 --> 17:33.819
- Yeah, and I never
worried about firefighters
17:33.819 --> 17:36.389
and recruiting and
retaining firefighters.
17:36.389 --> 17:39.058
In the last six months,
seeing the numbers,
17:39.058 --> 17:42.128
it's the first time I've really
started to worry about that.
17:42.128 --> 17:43.529
- The interesting thing to me
17:43.529 --> 17:45.998
about the discussion
the Council had
17:45.998 --> 17:50.369
is that you have Council
members who believed
17:50.369 --> 17:53.673
that police officers
should live in the city
17:53.673 --> 17:57.577
that they work in or live in
the county where they work in.
17:57.577 --> 17:59.412
But they've also said,
17:59.412 --> 18:02.248
"Yes, I think we need
more police officers."
18:02.248 --> 18:04.016
I mean, you had a
majority on the Council
18:04.016 --> 18:07.753
who agreed with the goal
of going up to 2,500.
18:07.753 --> 18:12.758
So, is this not necessarily
about the number of police,
18:13.926 --> 18:16.662
but is it about
a larger issue of
18:16.662 --> 18:19.532
police officers should
live where they work?
18:19.532 --> 18:21.033
- Well, that's what they say,
18:21.033 --> 18:23.436
but that's an example of
the challenge that we face
18:23.436 --> 18:25.371
with crime overall.
18:25.371 --> 18:29.375
Because when a crime happens,
the camera always comes to me,
18:29.375 --> 18:31.110
"Strickland, what are you
gonna do about crime?"
18:31.110 --> 18:32.311
And I'm not saying it shouldn't.
18:32.311 --> 18:34.480
I've totally welcomed that.
18:34.480 --> 18:36.916
But y'all never go
to the Council
18:36.916 --> 18:38.617
immediately after a crime,
18:38.617 --> 18:41.320
and say, "Do you regret
limiting our police force?"
18:41.320 --> 18:43.956
And that's what it was, it
was limiting our police force.
18:43.956 --> 18:47.560
No one ever goes to state
lawmakers and state government,
18:47.560 --> 18:50.396
"Do you regret these
weak state laws?"
18:50.396 --> 18:52.565
And y'all never go to
county government and say,
18:52.565 --> 18:55.635
"Y'all are a hundred
percent responsible
18:55.635 --> 18:58.104
for juvenile justice,
a hundred percent,"
18:58.104 --> 19:00.206
and I'm not saying y'all,
I don't mean Daily Memphian.
19:00.206 --> 19:02.208
I mean general in media.
19:02.208 --> 19:04.543
I'm not trying to point you out.
- That is fair.
19:04.543 --> 19:06.479
- But no one goes to
the county government,
19:06.479 --> 19:08.047
which is a hundred
percent responsible
19:08.047 --> 19:10.149
for juvenile justice,
a hundred percent.
19:11.050 --> 19:13.319
Juvenile crime has skyrocketed
19:13.319 --> 19:15.654
over the last six, seven years.
19:15.654 --> 19:20.226
It actually dovetails to when
the consent decree was placed,
19:20.226 --> 19:21.961
and I'm not disagreeing
with the thought
19:21.961 --> 19:24.330
of the consent decree,
but if you're not gonna take
19:24.330 --> 19:27.066
more into custody, and
you're gonna push people
19:27.066 --> 19:30.836
away from court, juvenile
court needs more money
19:30.836 --> 19:33.739
to intervene with
these young people
19:33.739 --> 19:37.610
who are doing bad things and
no longer coming into court,
19:37.610 --> 19:39.545
but no one asked them, no one.
19:39.545 --> 19:40.813
It's always, "Strickland,
19:40.813 --> 19:42.048
what are you gonna do
about juvenile court?"
19:42.048 --> 19:46.218
And please continue to
push us, me personally.
19:46.218 --> 19:48.587
I take responsibility for it,
19:48.587 --> 19:51.290
but I don't have a
hundred percent authority
19:51.290 --> 19:53.426
on all these different areas.
19:53.426 --> 19:56.762
And that's why it's easy
for a council member to say,
19:56.762 --> 19:58.030
take those positions.
19:58.030 --> 19:59.532
We need more police officers,
19:59.532 --> 20:00.900
but let's not go
outside the county,
20:00.900 --> 20:02.168
because nobody pushes them.
20:02.168 --> 20:04.170
- Yeah, I mean,
we got defensive,
20:04.170 --> 20:05.971
and it is an interesting
conversation.
20:05.971 --> 20:07.506
Over time, on
Behind the Headlines,
20:07.506 --> 20:11.077
and we've had Floyd Bonner
on recently, the Sheriff.
20:11.077 --> 20:14.013
We've had the juvenile court,
20:14.013 --> 20:17.116
Judge Michaels, on in the past.
20:17.116 --> 20:18.651
We haven't been able
to get him on again,
20:18.651 --> 20:20.119
Amy Weirich last week, the DA.
20:20.119 --> 20:21.420
We've talked to Council members
20:21.420 --> 20:22.922
and county commissioners
about this,
20:22.922 --> 20:25.658
and next week we're talking
to two local state legislators
20:25.658 --> 20:29.395
and among many things,
including the gun laws.
20:29.395 --> 20:33.499
And, it is complicated
and to some degree,
20:33.499 --> 20:37.503
you begin to get the scale
of the diaspora of entities
20:37.503 --> 20:39.872
that have their fingers
in this without, I mean,
20:39.872 --> 20:41.907
if you listen to all
those conversations,
20:41.907 --> 20:44.243
you realize all the
complexities of this.
20:44.243 --> 20:45.478
- First of all, I
need a dictionary
20:45.478 --> 20:46.612
to look up that
word you just said.
20:46.612 --> 20:47.913
- Diaspora, yeah.
- Yeah.
20:47.913 --> 20:48.881
- I'm not sure if I
even used it right,
20:48.881 --> 20:50.182
but it sounded really important.
20:50.182 --> 20:52.852
- But Judge Michael,
I'm glad y'all talk to him,
20:52.852 --> 20:54.653
but he needs more resources.
20:54.653 --> 20:55.955
It's the County Commission
20:55.955 --> 20:58.157
that needs to give
him more funding.
20:58.157 --> 21:00.259
If you're pushing kids
out of the system,
21:00.259 --> 21:01.994
where are you pushing them to?
21:01.994 --> 21:03.362
- So let's talk more--
21:03.362 --> 21:04.530
- They're getting
no interaction.
21:04.530 --> 21:05.898
- We've talked a ton,
21:05.898 --> 21:07.767
We've mentioned a little
bit about intervention,
21:07.767 --> 21:12.371
about efforts other than
policing and locking up,
21:12.371 --> 21:14.006
so let's talk a little
bit more about that.
21:14.006 --> 21:16.842
I mean, what in the short term,
21:16.842 --> 21:19.945
I think everyone vaguely,
generally agrees,
21:21.313 --> 21:24.216
good families, good education,
interventions at young,
21:24.216 --> 21:27.019
those are lifetime choices
and long-term choices
21:27.019 --> 21:30.789
and interventions that hopefully
keep kids on a better path.
21:30.789 --> 21:33.926
I mean, people are like, "What
are we gonna do next week?"
21:33.926 --> 21:37.730
And what are the non-policing,
non-lock them up strategies
21:37.730 --> 21:40.533
that the city, that your
part of this diaspora
21:40.533 --> 21:43.402
can tackle that work.
21:43.402 --> 21:45.137
- The thing I'm so
most excited about
21:45.137 --> 21:46.272
is Boys and Girls Club.
21:47.873 --> 21:51.644
When I took office in 2016,
and even the campaign,
21:51.644 --> 21:54.547
I talked about, kids need
something productive to do
21:54.547 --> 21:56.515
when they're not in school,
I said it all the time.
21:56.515 --> 21:58.918
We did more in our community
centers, more in our libraries,
21:58.918 --> 22:01.854
more in our summer jobs program,
more in our parks, we did.
22:03.022 --> 22:04.456
Boys and Girls Club
was the next step.
22:04.456 --> 22:06.258
I could never come
up with extra money,
22:06.258 --> 22:10.029
'cause it cost millions, using
the federal stimulus money.
22:10.029 --> 22:11.630
What we're doing at
Craigmont High School
22:11.630 --> 22:13.599
was the only school
that Boys and Girls Club
22:13.599 --> 22:15.835
was in afterschool programming,
22:15.835 --> 22:17.303
and the kids don't
have to go to a club,
22:17.303 --> 22:19.772
don't have to go to a community
center, just stay at school.
22:19.772 --> 22:21.607
They close at 8:00,
22:21.607 --> 22:23.275
and they've done it
for about four years.
22:23.275 --> 22:25.778
Y'all should have the
Principal of Craigmont on.
22:25.778 --> 22:28.781
She will tell you that a
hundred percent of the kids
22:28.781 --> 22:30.282
in the Boys and
Girls Club program,
22:30.282 --> 22:32.418
a hundred percent
graduate high school,
22:32.418 --> 22:35.087
and a hundred percent of
those go on to college,
22:35.087 --> 22:37.489
get a job or join the military.
22:37.489 --> 22:39.992
We have 30 public high
schools in Memphis.
22:41.427 --> 22:45.364
A program, a partnership with
Joris Ray and City Council,
22:45.364 --> 22:49.268
we're gonna expand that
with 10 new schools,
22:49.268 --> 22:51.170
and that's what we need.
22:51.170 --> 22:54.673
We need every middle school
and every high school
22:54.673 --> 22:56.742
to have afterschool
program, intense.
22:56.742 --> 22:58.310
It doesn't have to
be Boys and Girls.
22:58.310 --> 22:59.945
- Okay, I was gonna
ask, are there other--
22:59.945 --> 23:03.182
- Intense afterschool
programming 'till 8:00
23:03.182 --> 23:06.752
at night or so in the school,
the kids don't have to leave
23:06.752 --> 23:11.590
and wouldn't it be great if
a hundred percent of kids
23:11.590 --> 23:14.360
graduated high school and
then went on to a successful?
23:14.360 --> 23:17.062
Then all these other
problems disappear.
23:17.062 --> 23:19.598
- Is it a realistic goal?
A hundred percent is a lot.
23:19.598 --> 23:22.167
- Yeah, and I can't guarantee
you it's gonna continue that,
23:22.167 --> 23:26.505
but it's a lot better
than what's going on now.
23:26.505 --> 23:28.140
- Just two minutes left, Bill.
23:28.140 --> 23:30.376
- Well, let me ask you a
technical question about ARPA,
23:30.376 --> 23:34.146
the American Rescue
Plan Act funding,
23:34.146 --> 23:36.682
that there is kind of a
conversion of those funds,
23:36.682 --> 23:40.286
because the resolutions that
the Council passed on this
23:40.286 --> 23:43.255
say that the money goes
to replace lost revenues
23:43.255 --> 23:46.392
from the city, and then
we see the ARPA budget
23:46.392 --> 23:48.894
that has the programs, so
there's a bit of a conversion
23:48.894 --> 23:53.032
in that federal money from
what it's intended for
23:53.032 --> 23:55.467
and what it's used for.
23:55.467 --> 23:56.635
I think I phrased that wrong-
23:56.635 --> 23:59.038
- I don't think I
understand your question.
23:59.038 --> 24:02.241
it's allowed to replace
lost revenue for cities,
24:02.241 --> 24:06.211
and it's allowed to make these
big life-changing programs,
24:06.211 --> 24:09.381
like Boys and Girls Club,
so we've used it for both.
24:09.381 --> 24:11.617
City government was not
exempt from lost revenue,
24:11.617 --> 24:12.985
like businesses were.
24:12.985 --> 24:14.353
We lost revenue,
and this allowed us
24:14.353 --> 24:16.155
to be whole basically.
24:16.155 --> 24:19.158
We didn't have to lay off.
We didn't have to cut.
24:19.158 --> 24:21.160
And the federal
money helped a lot,
24:21.160 --> 24:24.063
but we're also able to do
the Boys and Girls Club,
24:24.063 --> 24:26.231
the broadband internet,
which is really important,
24:26.231 --> 24:28.000
and these other big programs.
24:28.000 --> 24:32.504
- Because the lost revenue
was going to go to programs
24:32.504 --> 24:34.473
and personnel for
those programs.
24:34.473 --> 24:35.741
- For personnel for sure.
24:37.209 --> 24:39.545
But to me, the lost
revenue helped us
24:39.545 --> 24:43.148
just to maintain the status
quo, and then this other money,
24:43.148 --> 24:45.451
let us do something more
than that status quo.
24:46.518 --> 24:48.354
- Just a minute left.
24:48.354 --> 24:51.357
You ran the first time I think,
24:51.357 --> 24:52.558
it was, "Brilliant
at the basics,"
24:52.558 --> 24:53.892
and being brilliant
at the basics,
24:53.892 --> 24:56.495
and I think if it was
not the formal tagline,
24:57.996 --> 24:59.798
we had "Memphis has momentum."
24:59.798 --> 25:01.333
Do you feel like you're
brilliant at the basics
25:01.333 --> 25:03.802
when it comes to things
like roads, solid waste?
25:03.802 --> 25:05.838
We talked about litter
when you were reelected
25:05.838 --> 25:07.306
that that was a priority.
25:07.306 --> 25:12.077
Did you feel that you are
being brilliant at the basics?
25:12.077 --> 25:14.279
- With as much money
as we have, yes.
25:15.714 --> 25:18.917
If we were to pick up all
the litter that's out there,
25:18.917 --> 25:21.220
that you and I and other
people throw outside,
25:21.220 --> 25:22.488
and I don't mean you
and I literally--
25:22.488 --> 25:23.922
- God, you're just blaming me
25:23.922 --> 25:25.391
for everything today,
it's unbelievable!
25:25.391 --> 25:27.159
- But, we human beings are
the ones who put it out there.
25:27.159 --> 25:29.161
The city government
is not littering.
25:29.161 --> 25:30.629
It's human beings
put it out there.
25:30.629 --> 25:32.865
But if we were to come
behind all the human beings
25:32.865 --> 25:37.870
and pick up their litter and
cut private property grass,
25:39.571 --> 25:42.307
once a month, it
would cost 15 more,
25:42.307 --> 25:43.542
we'd have to raise taxes.
25:43.542 --> 25:44.943
- Fifteen million?
- Fifteen million dollars.
25:44.943 --> 25:47.413
And I put it out in one
of my weekly emails.
25:47.413 --> 25:50.449
So, we've gotten better
on picking up garbage,
25:51.617 --> 25:53.952
paving streets,
it's lack of workforce.
25:53.952 --> 25:57.089
- Okay, we're gonna get you
back sooner, thank you so much.
25:57.089 --> 26:00.192
lost a light bulb. We
were so excited today.
26:00.192 --> 26:01.293
Thank you for joining us.
26:01.293 --> 26:02.795
You can get
everything at WKNO.org
26:02.795 --> 26:04.696
or on YouTube, or download
the podcast of the show
26:04.696 --> 26:05.964
wherever you get your podcasts.
26:05.964 --> 26:07.900
Thanks, and we'll
see you next week.
26:07.900 --> 26:11.470
[intense orchestral music]
26:30.155 --> 26:32.157
[acoustic guitar chords]