Suburbs

Apparently, crime in Memphis and its possible oozing into DeSoto County has led to more than just the Mississippi folks pointing an accusatory finger to the north.

On the one hand, prosecutor Matthew Barton says a new judge under consideration in Hernando doesn’t hold the same hard line on crime as Barton. Meanwhile, the DeSoto County sheriff says there are more to the problems than those associated with Memphis.

Barton’s campaign platform last year was targeted at criminals coming from Memphis to commit illegal acts in DeSoto. Barton’s campaign led to victory over Bob Morris for the district attorney’s position in the newly formed judicial district in North Mississippi.

That stance as a backdrop led to stories this week. First, DeSoto County Sheriff Thomas Tuggle made the point that all of the criminal activity in the county was not on a pipeline from Whitehaven, Westwood, Hickory Hill or any of the other communities resting on Shelby’s southern border. That a portion of those with criminal intent were “trying to come up the back way” from the Mississippi Delta.

Places like Clarksdale and Greenville. He also cited unsupervised juveniles as causing part of the problem.

Then Barton voiced his opposition to Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson nominating Barton’s political foe to the city judgeship. Barton said Morris doesn’t have the same hard stance on crime.

Whether that was based on philosophical differences with the potential judge or lingering feelings about a political opponent was unclear. But Barton certainly left little doubt that he wasn’t a fan of Johnson’s selection.

Look, to be frank, I get Barton’s stance as a politician. It plays well with DeSoto voters. If it didn’t, he wouldn’t have won the prosecutor’s job by 21% in the Republican primary last August. He is following through with his campaign promise. And I have no doubt the perception of Memphis being the root problem exists down there.

But Tuggle may have presented a more balanced view of the situation during a town hall meeting on Tuesday. That there are people from areas that aren’t Shelby County residents doing dastardly deeds. The Delta, or maybe Tate or Marshall County folks slipping across the DeSoto County line.

Tuggle also countered that there is a benefit from well-intentioned folks entering DeSoto. He cited visitors coming to shop and enjoy restaurants, bringing tax dollars with them to help the county economy.

“I want everybody to hear me out on this,” the sheriff said. “Memphis is not an adversary for us.” He later added: “Everybody is constantly focused on Memphis, Memphis, Memphis. I will say something that’s probably going to shock you. The most violent criminals trying to get into our county are not coming from Memphis.”

As for the Morris appointment to the Hernando bench, Barton’s reasoning for the opposition sure seemed to echo the theme of problems in Shelby County. Barton accused Morris of things like being soft on crime and potentially issuing low bonds for high crimes.

“This appointment would directly undermine my efforts as district attorney to establish high bonds for felons so that we do not become South Memphis,” Barton said — again pointing at Memphis being the problem.

A popular stance if you are playing to your constituents.

But who knows. Maybe there are some DeSoto County residents that commit crimes too.

Even felonies. - Suburbs editor Clay Bailey

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