Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) said Memphis will become the “butt of every joke” and the “example of a failed city” if its bail system and crime crisis are not addressed.
Noting how Detroit was once an example of a “failed city” and a “shell of its former self,” Taylor explained what steps the city has taken to reduce crime and how Memphis should follow its lead.
“Detroit had always been – for 20 or 30 years- the example of a failed city and it’s just a shell of its former self. Although, they are actually making strides and coming back. They actually have done some things to reduce crime. And I will tell you the two things that they’ve done that have had the greatest impact. One is they created a rocket docket to clear out the backlog of trials,” Taylor said during Monday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy.
“The second thing they did was they reformed their bail system so that when people were let out on bail, they were monitored to ensure that they were complying with the conditions of bail. We’re doing neither of those things in Memphis, and so that in part is what’s driving a lot of the crime. My fear is that if we don’t get it turned around, Memphis will become the butt of every joke and will become the example of a failed city,” Taylor (pictured above) continued.
Taylor added that he’s spent his entire adult life in Memphis and will not “sit idly by and watch it slide into chaos.”
Further addressing the crime crisis in Memphis, Taylor noted another challenge, which is that a third of the county’s criminal division judges have either been recently reprimanded or are currently under investigation for a reprimand.
Despite this, Taylor said he’s working with other state lawmakers to work on legislation addressing the city’s crime.
“One of the things that I’ve done since we got out of session last year is to highlight our crime crisis in Memphis,” Taylor said. “I’ve had other senators from other parts of the state down… and I’m going to pick that back up when we get out of session, bringing them to Memphis so that they can meet with crime victims, meet with law enforcement, meet with the business community. And every one of them have come away and said, “I knew you had a crime problem in Memphis, but I had no idea it was this bad.” And so I’ve gotten commitments from all of them to help me with bills that will make an impact in Memphis and Shelby County. And so I look forward to their support.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Brent Taylor” by Senator Brent Taylor. Background Photo “Memphis Skyline” by WillyBearden. CC BY-SA 4.0.
