Sen. Brent Taylor Urges Congress To Enter Consent Decree With Shelby County District Attorney
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) spoke to Congress Tuesday, the second official day of operations for the Memphis Safe Task Force, a collection of 13 federal agencies conducting an operation in Memphis aimed at reducing violent crime.
"In order to make Memphis matter, we have to make Memphis safe," Taylor said.
The senator told the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2024 Memphis reported 111,000 crimes and 19,000 arrests. Of those arrests, according to Taylor, 56% were dismissed.
"Violent crime has been rampant in Memphis," Taylor said before recounting the Ezekiel Kelly shooting spree, the death of Eliza Fletcher, the shooting death of a St. Jude doctor, and the murder of a Campbell Clinic doctor at his Collierville facility.
Taylor then spoke about several cases of defendants being released on their own recognizance (ROR), meaning they were not forced to pay to be released from custody. The state senator cited the case of Jaylen Lobley, who was granted ROR before being involved in an exchange of gunfire with Memphis Police. MPD officer Joseph McKinney died in that shootout.
"In fact, crime is so bad in Memphis that last year, Shelby County, the county that Memphis is in, experienced the largest decrease in population of any county in the entire country. Unless we do something, Memphis will hollow out its middle class, and all that will be left will be the extremely poor that can't afford to leave and the extremely wealthy that can afford to hire private security," Taylor said.
Taylor told the senators he believes Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy is responsible for much of Memphis' crime.
The state senator also called for public certifications for any reduced or dismissed case related to the "Memphis Safe Task Force" and the swift confirmation of Michael Dunavant as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
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