Life on the street: No night is ‘typical’ for officers on patrol
A Memphis Police officer with the CAT (Criminal Apprehension Team) unit talks to a detained suspect as the sun sets over the Nutbush neighborhood of Memphis on March 6. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Members of the CAT unit surveil a local convenience store known for criminal activity in the Orange Mound neighborhood on Feb. 9. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
A Memphis Police officer photographs evidence found in a car while making an arrest on March 6. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Ecstasy, marijuana and a gun were found in a vehicle during a traffic stop in the Nutbush neighborhood on March 6. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
A handcuffed suspect leans on the hood of a police car as Memphis Police officers process his arrest on March 6. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
A Memphis Police officer searches a vehicle during an arrest on March 27. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Officers discuss a recent arrest on March 6. With 2020 being the deadliest year in decades for homicides in the city, MPD relaunched its two Criminal Apprehension Teams, or CATs, a violent-crime-reduction operation. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Memphis Police Lt. Israel Taylor scans the spray-painted walls in neighborhoods for gang graffiti while on patrol in South Memphis on Feb. 9. “You can tell a lot of what is going on in a neighborhood by reading the wall, especially in certain apartments, gang locations,” he says. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Memphis Police Lt. Israel Taylor inspects a street memorial in North Memphis while on patrol on March 6. “... It is awful, the number of homicides last year,” Taylor says of the 332 homicides in 2020. “To me, it goes back to the outright lawlessness where people are litigating issues with gunfire.” (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Jackal, a Memphis Police Department search dog, gets rewarded by his handler after searching a vehicle on Feb. 9. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Memphis Police Lt. Israel Taylor (left) talks to one of his officers who was making a stop on Feb. 9. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
A gun is confiscated from a former felon during a stop by Memphis Police officers on Feb. 9. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
A suspect waits in the car after being detained by Memphis police officers on Feb. 9. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Memphis Police Lt. Israel Taylor has been patrolling the streets of Memphis for 27 years. During a night on the streets, he discussed everything from the record-breaking number of homicides in Memphis last year to why he became an officer and remains on the job.
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Israel Taylor Memphis Police Department ride-along Operation Winter FreezeYolanda Jones
Yolanda Jones covers criminal justice issues and general assignment news for The Daily Memphian. She previously was a reporter at The Commercial Appeal.
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