Weekly Update

Friends, 

Each month, I give you an update on arrests for theft of cars and theft from cars. The June numbers are in. From January 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023, Memphis police have arrested 2,600 people for those crimes.  As with each month’s report, I regret to inform you that almost none of them face any real consequence for their actions.  The adults get no or low bonds at the start and probation at the end. The juveniles face even less deterrent. There is almost no downside to this criminal activity, and as a result, it continues.

Several months ago, I wrote to the judges and judicial commissioners asking for transparency in the system and a way for the public to share their thoughts with these decision makers. To date, I have not received a response.  As a result, we have hired someone with 40 years of experience to monitor the system at 201 Poplar and make periodic reports to us so that we can bring more light to these decisions.  Stay tuned for more to come.

In addition, we have created an email address for the public to share thoughts on the criminal justice system with the decision makers at 201 Poplar. We will print them and share them with those individuals on a regular basis.  The email address is courtsystem@memphistn.gov.

Moving on: It is with mixed emotions that we announced this week that Chief Legal Officer, Jennifer Sink, is leaving the City of Memphis, effective today. While her departure saddens me, I am happy for her to take on her new opportunity just down the street with Memphis Light Gas and Water as Vice President and General Counsel. 

Jennifer was appointed Chief Legal Officer for the City of Memphis in January 2020 after serving as the Deputy Director of the Legal Division since 2016. As Chief Legal Officer, she has provided legal advice and counsel to me, division directors, and city officials on a broad range of legal matters. She is an outstanding lawyer and person, and her guidance and leadership have been instrumental to our success. I look forward to her helping MLGW achieve greater outcomes for our community.

To replace her, I am appointing Michael Fletcher as interim Chief Legal Officer. Mike has over 31 years of experience with the City of Memphis and served as Deputy City Attorney since 2016.

Community Connection Awards Banquet: I have written about our Opportunity Memphis R3 (Rethinking, Rebuilding, Rebranding) in this space before, but as a reminder, it helps those ages 16 to 24 who are not in school and not employed. During the program, we offer them a guided path to further education or workforce readiness.

Earlier this week, we held a Community Connection Awards Banquet to honor those participants who have successfully gone through the program and to honor of our partners who help make this work possible.

Rethinking Award. This award is given to an individual who fosters innovative thinking, goes above and beyond the expected tasks and propels oneself, peers and community to achieve and be a part of the solution. Sisters Dianna and MiRickei McCrary’s family had fallen on hard times and were displaced often causing the two young ladies to fall behind in schoolwork and eventually they stopped attending. Dianna had college and real-estate aspirations, and MiRickei had her sights set on Logistics. After completing R3, the two young ladies joined HopeWorks (another fantastic organization) to pursue their GEDs. On February 27th, we lost MiRickei to a senseless act of gun violence while playing basketball. But even in the wake of this terrible tragedy, Dianna kept pushing and went back to Oakhaven High School to earn her high school diploma.

Rebuilding Award: This award is given to an individual who builds opportunities on a solid foundation of honesty, transparency, and inclusiveness. This person uses various stakeholders in his/her efforts to strengthen themselves and the foundation for others using community engagement. Corisa Thomas had been physically injured from a wreck. After the accident, she did not have a car and most days she was in pain. During the program, she shadowed at Preferred Title and Escrow. After graduation, she was hired by City of Memphis HR.

Rebranding Award:  This award is given to an individual who believes in the power of change. This person embraces diversity in seeking different perspectives from staff, peers and partners that help to make a lasting impression for the right opportunity. In the beginning, Marvin Farmer was often late to session. As the program progressed, he shadowed at MFD and guess what—he was late there too. But only once because they made their expectations very clear, and when he returned, he was never late again. We are proud to say he is now a Memphis Fire Recruit.

Legacy Award: This award is given to a participant who is relentless in pursuit of their dreams.

Before joining R3, Brandon Booker trained in Memphis Fire, and during R3, he shadowed at Memphis Police. It was evident that he wanted a career that would serve a purpose and not just any job. This young man was resilient in his efforts to make a better life for himself and was not afraid of hard work. But life is also full of continuous tests and temptations. Soon, rejection after rejection would come from other avenues for which he applied. He would go on to re-apply for MFD again and has been accepted to join as a Fire recruit in the Fall of this year.

To date, Opportunity R3 has graduated more than 130 participants. I am so proud of the invaluable work they have done and will continue to do for our community. Special thanks to Tamika Williams and her R3 team for leading these efforts, and thanks to Director Ike Griffith and our office of Community Affairs for giving them the tools they need to be successful.

Enjoy your weekend!

Yours,