MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police Chief C.J. Davis spoke at a news conference Tuesday on making Memphis a “Stronger, Safer” city.
According to a handout provided to reporters, the chief is touting a reported reduction in crime in Memphis. “Memphis Crime Is Down Again!” it reads.
Davis said overall crime in Memphis is down 20%, year-to-date, and 34% over two years. Violent crime is down 15% year-to-date, 22% over two years.
“With six months left in 2025, I’m convinced we are on the right track,” said Davis, who said residents were beginning to feel the difference in their neighborhoods.
The city showed stats not long after being in the national spotlight, after FBI Director Kash Patel called Memphis the “homicide capital of America.”
Tuesday’s news conference comes just before the July 4 weekend. Police reminded city residents that shooting guns in the air for the Fourth is never a good idea.
“This progress is the result of hard work, focused strategy, and strong community support,” said CJ Davis, Memphis Police Chief.
“We are not where we want to be right now, we are still working on how do we intercept violent crime,” said Chief Davis.
Chief Davis said her office is also utilizing federal partners to hold people accountable.
“We are really focusing on that ensuring that cases that meet the federal threshold are prosecuted federally. We see too often the same individuals that are committing violent crimes, we’re not getting as much success as we would like in the prosecutorial process,” said Davis.
Chief Davis said cases where people are using prohibited weapons, glock switches, extended magazines, all of those cases will be pushed to the federal court system.
But despite the efforts, there have been recent shootings in public places recently inside a fast food restaurant, where a delivery driver was shot multiple times.
This past weekend at a rock-climbing facility in south Memphis, where two men were killed one of them a beloved employee of the nonprofit.
“What we want to do is make sure that people know that certain incidents are not random, when it is random, we really want to get on top of that, and we do but many of the instances and scenarios are people who know each other, conflicts that have risen to a volatile level. Even just this weekend individuals that know each other,” said Chief Davis.
The police chief said they want to get to a point where homicides are not talked about in Memphis, and that there are fewer violent offenses compared to the past.