Memphis mayor, police eye Downtown security ahead of warm weather

Between March 20 and 24, three shootings took place across the heart of Memphis' Downtown area.

The night of March 20, two shootings near Beale Street happened just hours apart from one another. Both shootings resulted in quick arrests, and both left someone injured.

A third shooting in Tom Lee Park in the afternoon on March 24 left one woman injured.

The shootings preceded and followed a visit to Memphis by President Donald Trump, who declared crime would be nearly eradicated in Memphis in a few more months with his Memphis Safe Task Force on the ground.

But task force members, who have been in the city since late September, are about to experience Memphis' pattern of a crime surge that comes during the spring and summer months. Both Memphis Mayor Paul Young and Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis acknowledged the impending crime increase this past week.

"Sometimes when young people have nothing to do, they move to the Downtown space, especially as the weather gets warmer," Davis told the Memphis City Council March 24, before the shooting that day. "But we have visibility, and more visibility in the city, and we will be working, especially with the [mayor's] administration. We actually have a meeting later on today about how we tighten up, even more, our Downtown space."

Data shows crime increase in warmer months

Data from the City of Memphis' crime dashboard shows that reported crime to the Memphis Police Department's North Main Precinct has, on average, risen starting in March. That increase has generally ended in September.

Both Young and Davis, in their comments, also acknowledged the two weekend shootings involved teenagers. As the weather warms and schools start to go on break, Memphis has historically grappled with different levels of Downtown disruption.

Sometimes that disruption takes the form of shootings, other times people point to fights.

In former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland's final year in office, in summer 2023, it took the form of cars driving fast, doing burnouts and spinning in donuts near Beale Street.

One of those ended with bystanders being hit by a car, and another a mass shooting that left eight injured, resulting in expanded barricades during the weekend and metal detectors on Beale Street .

A fee to get onto Beale Street and security measures, such as metal detectors and pat-downs, have come and gone just to return again at a later date over the last five years.

Much of the Downtown law enforcement effort for years has centered around visibility: MPD wants people to see officers, see squad cars, and hope that acts as a deterrent for crime and other conflicts. But another aspect, one that city leaders have struggled to make gains in, has been keeping youth out of the space during the night.

In April 2023, The Commercial Appeal obtained a copy of a plan — which the department later called a "rough draft" and ultimately put on ice — MPD had to monitor juveniles downtown.

Then, later that same month, conversations about enforcing the 1996 curfew ordinance began and a month later were quickly shelved .

But, during an interview after Trump hosted a roundtable to tout the work of the Memphis Safe Task Force, Young said conversations were once again taking place about how the city could enforce the curfew .

"There are some challenges with implementation because we have to ensure that we have the appropriate place to take the individuals if, and when, they do encounter law enforcement," Young said during the March 23 press conference. "But it is something that we're exploring because we think that it's unacceptable to have 14-year-olds running around Downtown at 11:30 at night, in the entertainment district, and on Beale Street where there are bars and adult activities taking place."

Davis echoed those remarks the following day during an appearance before the Memphis City Council.

"It's a very sensitive issue," Davis said. "Sometimes we find ourselves in a gray area of how we gently deal with a 9-year-old, 10-year-old, even a 13- or 14-year-old that has a weapon. And how do we discover weapons on young people that come to our Downtown space without searching everyone?"

But she said there is an "appetite" for figuring out how the curfew could be enforced when asked by Councilman Philip Spinosa.

"I've said it before: 9-year-olds don't belong in the back seat of a patrol car. There needs to be some mechanism for us to be able to transport young people who are in places that they are unsafe to a safe place until they are reunited with their parents," she said.

Lucas Finton covers crime, policing, jails, the courts and criminal justice policy for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by phone or email: (901)208-3922 and Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, and followed on X @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How to stop spring crime spike Downtown? Mayor, police look at options