Sanford: City’s violent crime problem needs solutions — not sound bites
FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before a U.S. Senate committee. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
Otis Sanford
Otis Sanford is a political columnist, author and professor emeritus in Journalism and Strategic Media at the University of Memphis.
The comment seemed to come out of nowhere and was apropos of nothing that was asked or answered seconds earlier.
But it created headlines, sound bites, news stories and analyses as if it were the biggest revelation since the Ten Commandments.
Memphis has a deadly serious crime problem. Everybody, except for one guy, knew that. We’ve had it ever since the first bunch of gamblers, riffraff, scoundrels and cutthroats hopped off steamboats around the turn of the 20th century looking for a good time at bars, brothels, dance halls and gambling joints in what was then the rowdiest town along the Mississippi River.
This is an excerpt of this story. To read more, please click here and subscribe.
Topics
Subscriber Only Kash Patel public safetyAre you enjoying your subscription?
Your subscription gives you unlimited access to all of The Daily Memphian’s news, written by nearly 40 local journalists and more than 20 regular freelancers. We work around the clock to cover the issues that impact your life and our community.
You can help us reach more Memphians.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we provide free news access at K-12 schools, public libraries and many community organizations. We also reach tens of thousands of people through our podcasts, and through our radio and television partnerships – all completely free to everyone who cares about Memphis.
When you subscribe, you get full access to our news. But when you donate, you help us reach all Memphians.
Pay it forward. Make a fully tax-deductible donation to The Daily Memphian today.
Thank you for reading the local news. Thank you for investing in our community.
Otis Sanford on demand
Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Otis Sanford's stories as they’re published.
Enter your e-mail address
Related stories
Point of Impact: With switches proliferating, officers are outgunned
Patrol officers usually carry semi-automatic handguns, which fire once for each pull of a trigger. But those weapons make them ill-equipped to encounter a person with a converted pistol.
Trauma center workers see increase in gun violence first-hand
What people don’t see is the blood on the floor. Bag after bag that’s used to save lives. They don’t see the doctors and nurses with soaked scrubs. They don’t see the gore left for janitors to clean up.
Guns haunted two friends’ childhoods. Now they navigate a world awash in them.
Gun violence shaped their lives as kids, and gun-related charges sent them to prison. Here’s where they land on gun restrictions.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.