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A judge who’s been in the limelight for some of his controversial bail decisions announced last week he would retire in March. Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court Judge Bill Anderson told The Daily Memphian he was always planning to retire this year, once his wife was able to retire with him. He did acknowledge, though, that what he called “politics” forced him to move up his planned retirement by about six months. Anderson, who’s been a frequent target of state Sen. Brent Taylor, said, “Politicians interfering with judges is a sad, sad state of affairs.” Crime in Memphis was down last year. The Daily Memphian’s Samuel Hardiman analyzed 20 years of crime data to paint a fuller picture of where the city stands in comparison to other cities. One takeaway from the data is that Memphis’ peer cities regarding crime have changed: Over two decades, Memphis’ murder rate has become closer to or higher than that of Detroit, Baltimore and New Orleans after beginning the 21st century close to that of Milwaukee and Atlanta. Also the city’s rate of aggravated assaults more than doubled from 2001 to 2023. Also Memphis Mayor Paul Young addressed what he called “the drama and the foolishness” as the city embarks on a new year, citing specifically the situations at Memphis Area Transit Authority the Memphis Police Department and Memphis-Shelby County Schools. — Metro editor Jane Donahoe
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More police spending does not always equate to lower crime rates. Memphis and Atlanta spend almost the same on police per person per year but have seen vastly different results.
By Samuel Hardiman
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