The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, has met with local gang leaders and asked them to agree to a seven-day cease-fire as crime appears to be out of control in the city.
The mayor said he had discussions, not “negotiations,” with Memphis gang leaders, and community representatives added that the number of gangs in the city itself is a problem.
“We’ve slowly seen new gangs organize,” said a community leader. heels 901, a nonprofit organization in Memphis. “This is not a traditional area where we have four out of five gangs. We have a hybrid gang.”
Memphis recorded 398 murders in 2023, more than double the number in the city five years ago. CNN reported that there have already been more than 600 serious violent crimes and at least 40 murders in the first two months of 2024.
Crime rates in Memphis are at their highest in 17 years. Ministry of Justice announced.
“Our city has had a big problem with crime over the last few years. … We need to take it to the streets and we need to talk to the people who are actually engaging in that activity. ” said Mayor Paul Young. He is talking to the gang leader.
“What came out of the conversation was that they wanted to be involved. Since I had that conversation…some people have reached out to me.”
In speaking with community leaders, the mayor focused specifically on youth crime, with more than 45,000 people between the ages of 16 and 24 not working or attending school. According to statistics from a nonprofit organization called , nearly 50% of people in the same age group live in poverty. collective blueprint.
The nonprofit said only 1% of these young people are on a path to earning a living wage by the time they turn 28.
But arrest rates for violent crimes are 45% lower for young people with jobs or internships. action news 5.
CNN’s victor blackwell He said he has learned from talking to various gang members over his career that they don’t want to become criminals.
“They don’t want criminal activity. What they want is to belong,” he told the mayor.
The mayor described many of the gang leaders’ demands as “heartfelt” but insisted they were just conversations, not negotiations.
Gang members told the mayor that the recent “epidemic of car break-ins” was simply because young gang members were bored and had nothing to do.
According to police statistics, more than 3,500 property crimes, including break-ins, were reported in January 2024 alone.
Regarding the need for leadership, the mayor said, “Our community doesn’t need new things, only things we need to lean into.”
But Young acknowledged that while some criminals should be caught “through the criminal justice system,” there are many others he believes can be saved.
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