Memphis Mayor Paul Young said he sat down with some leaders of Memphis’ gangs a little over two weeks ago. It was not the first time a city mayor had a meeting like that, but it was, seemingly, the first time a sitting mayor discussed it publicly.
Along the campaign trail, after the election and in the weeks since he was sworn in, Young has said the city needs a “holistic” approach to crime. Previously he has said that this meant gathering community members, religious leaders, law enforcement, government actors and nonprofits.
Meeting with the gangs, he told The Commercial Appeal Wednesday, was part of extending the dialogue to those directly involved with crime.
“If we are going to talk about how we’re going to reduce crime, I think it’s important to engage those that have been directly involved,” Young said. “It was really as simple as asking what it would take to get a seven-day ceasefire. They expressed a willingness to do it.”
Young said the people he spoke with pointed to the need for programs that speak directly to Memphis’ youth, giving them recreational opportunities and ways to earn money. He also said the city is looking at restructuring its summer job programming to allow kids who have low grade point averages, which often has been tied to a higher likelihood of committing a crime, to take part. A current GPA restriction prevents students with poor grades from being accepted into the program.
The meeting was facilitated by 901 Bloc Squad, Heal 901 and the city’s Violence Intervention Program, all programs looking to curb violence around Memphis. Young said he was struck by the humanity and “how normal, or regular” the gang members were when he spoke to them.
“One of the individuals said, ‘Man, we don’t want to be out here. We don’t want to have to do this,'” Young recalled. “What they said to me was that they’ve been conditioned to this lifestyle. If we introduce some opportunities, we may be able to turn the tide.”
Part of turning that tide will come from conversations with more gang members, Young said, adding that there will need to be more than the group he spoke with weeks ago in agreement to curb crime.
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“One of them expressed to me how powerful it was that we were sitting there, and how powerful it would be if we, rather than rely on them to convey the message to other those that are with their organization, that I went and impressed it directly,” he said. “It would be so powerful for them to see me in their neighborhood because that’s not common. These young people want to see the decision-makers. They want to see the ones that have come from these neighborhoods and made it out in different ways.”
Though he said he recognized prioritizing youth programming to ensure the future generations of Memphians are staying away from crime, Young said he understands why people asking for immediate solutions to crime.
“We are in a crisis and people want to know what we are going to get done tomorrow, not what’s going to happen in the next 10 years,” Young said. “I completely understand the desire. With the immediate goals, we’re working on multiple. That’s why I said it’s not either-or, it’s both.”
Young pointed to surging police in areas that are seeing higher crime, in what he called “code zero,” and enforcing more warrants and analyzing gun crimes over the years.
Crime, overall, has been down through the first two months of the year. That trend is a continuation of the back end of 2023 but has not been felt due to homicides still being up.
Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901) 208-3922 and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.
