Memphis, Tennessee Hits the 300 Number

300 Murders, that is. Memphis hit 300 homicides in 2020. 'We have to believe something can change.' The 300 number is a record.

The "We have to believe" phrase makes me a bit angry.

Around 9 p.m. Friday, Memphis police responded to a shooting call at the intersection of Kimball Avenue and Prescott Road. One male victim was found dead at the scene.

Of the 300 homicides, 262 are classified as murders, a category which excludes some killings like when a homeowner is justified in killing an intruder.

The difference between 300, and 262 will include negligent and non-negilgent homoicides, as well as justifiable instances of self-defense. It isn't clear to me if that also includes police shootings, though it probably does. (Sometimes non-negligent homicides are included in murders, but since the FBI breaks them out seperately, a lot of PDs do as well.)

The path to the 300th homicide was marked by repeated pleas from officials for increased communication with law enforcement and their tip lines. Millions in federal funding flowed into the city from the Department of Justice for task force initiatives aimed at combating gang-related violence and federal firearms offenses.

They lament the conditions created by the Pandemic, and say "we're just like everyone else" and point to Chicago, and Washington D.C. as examples of other places where things have gone off the rails. If they're just like everyone else, then they are not responsible.

They want all kinds of intervention, and community involvement, though most of that is rarely defined in anything like detailed terms. It comes down to "Have faith in government." You, know, the very organization that has done everything possible over the last 40 or 50 years to create the conditions we have today.

“We fought a war on poverty, and poverty won”
― Ronald Reagan

I don't have the answers to everything that is wrong, but I do know that doing the same thing, and expecting a different outcome is one definition of insanity.