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 safety2025 is almost over. Now is the time to support your trusted local news source.
Will you help us reach more Memphians with quality, in-depth local news? Make a fully tax-deductible donation or other contribution to The Daily Memphian, a 501(c)3 nonprofit news organization, today.
Thank you for keeping up with what’s happening in Memphis. Thank you for investing in our community’s trusted local news source.
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.
Comments
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.