New plan to reduce crime is unveiled
Gibbons outlines five-year initiative
Newly appointed president of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission Bill Gibbons talked about a five-year crime-reduction plan with the Rotary Club of East Memphis Wednesday.
Specifics are still in the works, but Gibbons said he hopes the “Operation Safe Community Plan” will launch with support and collaboration from local government and law enforcement leaders like Mayor Jim Strickland, Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings, Shel- by County Sheriff Bill Oldham, he said. Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich will chair the effort and members of the crime commission will be involved in moving the plan forward, he said.
“It’s got to be a plan that all of the major stakeholders buy into,” he said.
The former commissioner of the state Department of Safety and Homeland Security spoke broadly about the plan to Rotary members at the Racquet Club of Memphis. With proper support from local leaders, he hopes the plan will roll out later this fall, he said.
The plan will focus on decreasing crime in five ways, he said.
To be successful, it needs to address violent street crime caused by gang activity, drug trafficking and illegal gun possession on the streets, Gibbons said.
The plan also needs to decrease incidents of domestic violence, often a “driving force behind violent crime” in the city and county, he