Numbers say crime down, but so is age of many arrested

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Overall crime is down in Memphis — that’s the biggest takeaway from a recent report by the Shelby County Crime Commission.

That includes violent crime, which they say is down 5.1 percent compared to the first half of 2023. It’s definitely a victory, according to Memphis Police.

But there are still some concerns regarding crime in the city. Many of those concerns involve juveniles committing crimes.

Police say they are arresting kids as young as 10 years old, and it’s a problem they plan to focus their efforts on in the second half of the year.

This year, there have been 20 fewer homicides than this time last year, as well as 13 fewer sexual assaults, 100 less aggravated assaults and 400 fewer robberies.

Police say we are seeing some good reduction in violent crime as well as our property crime. We’re even seeing a decrease in auto thefts, according to a newly released report by the Shelby County Commission on Crime.

“We know last year we had a huge increase in theft of motor vehicle and auto theft, but this year we are down, which is good news,” MPD Deputy Chief Joe Oakley said. “About 30 percent on our auto theft and 20-something percent on theft of motor vehicles.”

While these numbers are promising, the big concern comes from the ages of the culprits that are still out committing crimes.

“We have arrested two 10-year-olds, three 12-year-olds, six 13-year-olds,” Oakley said. “And so 18 is our high age number. And then 19, we had 29, and then 20 years old, 20.”

In fact, just yesterday, two 17-year-olds and two 18-year-olds were arrested for a carjacking on Getwell Road.

And last weekend, seven people 18 years old and younger were arrested in the area of B.B. King Boulevard and Peabody Place as a part of MPD’s Operation Saturday Night Live .

“Auto theft arrests, we’ve arrested 529 for the first six months of the year,” Oakley said. “We’ve arrested 53 18-year-olds. Our second most arrested age would be 17, followed by 15 and then 16.”

MPD presented a number of ways to crack down on not just juvenile crime, but all crime…including forums, compliance teams, and partnerships with other agencies to regularly discuss solutions.

The other increase reported involved violations regarding the possession of firearms, up 49 percent from this time last year.

According to a Crime Commission survey, 87 percent of respondents say the city needs to come up with a way to restore the requirement that individuals have a permit, required training, and a background check to carry a handgun in public.

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