Public Safety Summit Priorities

The following is a summary of the key consensus priorities arising from the Public Safety Summit—hosted by the DA’s Office, August 31. These reflect a general consensus around the room. Not every participating agency could formally commit that day, but no one affirmatively dissented.

The timeline for implementation (and at least preliminary results) is between 6 and 18 months.

Shared Message: We have a serious crime crisis that requires an “all hands on deck” approach. We will continue to vigorously prosecute repeat violent offenders, who deserve serious prison time. We will also work hard to repair due process failings in the system so that guilty defendants can be held accountable.  At the same time, we must work on preventing crime, as outlined below. 

VIOLENCE INTERVENTION: Form an interagency Working Group to coordinate the use of groups that identify potential repeat violent offenders and intervene to prevent further criminal action. Programs like Youth Villages’ Memphis Allies program, Heal 901’s Cure Violence program, and the City of Memphis’ Violence Intervention Program, just to list a few examples, use “trusted voices” (persons who have themselves formerly been in the criminal justice system) to reach out to these at-risk persons, warn them of the consequences of further criminal actions, and offer services (counseling, GED, job training, job placement, etc.) to help them avoid it. Programs like this have reduced recidivism in other cities. The plan is to have this Working Group consult with David Muhammad, a nationally recognized expert in this area working at the Nat’l Institute for Criminal Justice Reform who has already been consulting with some of these groups on the best way to ramp up use of programs like this. 

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN: For several decades, other cities have engaged with some crime reduction success in Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). Leaders identify crime “hotspots” and improve the environment through street lighting, “clean & green” efforts on vacant lots, blighted building remediation, street design, and other efforts to make the areas less hospitable for crime. MPD has been engaged in some CPTED efforts, and CPTED is part of the “Operation Safeways” program for high-crime apartment complexes. We must apply CPTED to the 50 or so highest local “hot spots.” The group would also explore what state law changes might be necessary to streamline these efforts.  

 MEANINGFUL SUPERVISION: On a much greater and more consistent basis, impose meaningful, individualized requirements of defendants to get, as appropriate, substance abuse/mental health counseling, education, job training, continued employment, etc., at every stage of the system, from pretrial through plea deals and probation. This would require buy-in from the DA, Public Defender, and judges and heavy use of Memphis’ VIP program, the County’s Office of Reentry, the County’s new Youth Family Resource Center, and TDOC’s Day Reporting program. Funding for these services may need to increase as use of them rises.  

DATA TRANSPARENCY, DATA SHARING, & INTEROPERABILITY : Currently, reliable data on the criminal justice system is hard to extract, difficult to share among agencies, and often inconsistent between agencies. Agencies use different data systems which can’t talk to each other. The agencies hope to get a national consulting group like Justice Innovation Lab, working with a local partner like Innovate Memphis, to coordinate better data reliability, data-sharing, consistency, and interoperability and to create public-facing dashboards and data portals to increase transparency.  

RESIDENTIAL SERVICES FOR JUSTICE-INVOLVED YOUTH: Collaborate on making greater funding for in-residence facilities like Pure Academy for troubled youth and group home-type environments.