Gee, Here's a Novel Idea

I know, what if we were to go after the repeat offenders? Do you think that would make our crime rate go down? Duh! It seems the problems in Baltimore were so bad, they finally decided to concentrate on the repeaters and guess what, it has had an immediate impact.

If you think it's bad in Memphis, it's twice as bad in Baltimore - for murders. Baltimore has a population of around 630,000 and Memphis is 645,978 according to the US Census data, but Baltimore has had 280 homicides this year compared to Memphis' 160 (29 of which were not murders, but justifiable homicides). Can you say, "desperate times, call for desperate measures?"

Here's a clip from today's CA on the subject:

Earlier this year, Baltimore was headed for its bloodiest year in nearly a decade. But the bloodletting eased up after a new police commissioner took office.

The bloodshed in Baltimore is blamed on entrenched poverty, widespread drug addiction, failing schools and easy access to guns.

Through Dec. 26, there were 280 homicides in Baltimore -- four more than in all of 2006. Things looked even grimmer in mid-July, the day Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm resigned. At that point, Baltimore had 178 homicides, putting it on pace for a total of 325. The city has not topped 300 since 1999.

The new police commissioner, Frederick Bealefeld III, and Mayor Sheila Dixon have gone after repeat violent offenders more aggressively, flooded high-crime zones with officers, and revived a unit that traces illegal guns. Also, repeat gun offenders are being sent more frequently to the federal court system, where they face stiffer sentences.

In Memphis, Blue Crush is doing a lot of that, and we are ramping up to deal with the constant repeat offenders over the next year. I guess it would only be fair to give the thugs fair warning - we will be watching you! Now, if we can just get the legislature to pass some better legislation to deal with these terrorists!

I encourage anyone and everyone to send an email to your legislators requesting this legislation. As a matter of fact, I've created a web page that will let you do just that, with just a few clicks.

He's Doing it Again!

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Source - Shelby County Registrar's website

It seems a leopard cannot change his spots. Our local shurf, Mark (not a cop) Luttrell, is taking gratuities again. The Memphis Daily News reported that he took some free tickets that were offered by the University of Memphis and didn't return them. All the county commissioners returned the tickets they were given, but Mark didn't see the need to. That might be because Mark thinks the ethics rules of the county and the policies of the Sheriff's office that outlaw such conduct, are really just "suggestions", unless they are applied to deputies.

Mark took a free dinner cruise last year while in Chicago, and he didn't report it, nor did he pay for it himself. The cruise was paid for by Aramark, the company who just happens to be a vendor for the county and the Sheriff's office - to the tune of several million dollars.

While I was employed by the Sheriff's Office, it was made clear that you could not accept freebies from anyone. And, you couldn't take discounted stuff, UNLESS THE DISCOUNT WAS OFFERED TO EVERY OTHER DEPUTY SHERIFF. We routinely get discounts on food from different businesses, but that is an across the board discount to any cop. We get 10% from AutoZone, Dillards, and other companies, but once again, it's to all deputies and police officers. Now, I don't remember the U of M offering me free tickets, but if they had, I couldn't have accepted them, because we couldn't accept anything that was FREE.

Can anyone out there support his taking the free gifts? The rest of the county commission felt it was against the latest "ethics" policy, or else they would have kept the tickets too. It seems Mark has decided the rules just NEVER apply to him. Mark, that's a slippery slope. Pretty soon you'll be taking contributions from convicted drug dealers, oh wait, you've already done that. Oh well.

I'm still waiting on Mark's apology for taking money from the convicted cocaine dealers and other criminals, while punishing deputies for visiting a guy in prison. And I haven't heard anything more from Brian Kuhn, county attorney, regarding Mark's cruise. Now, I will be sending another email to Brian Kuhn on this clear ethics violation. Maybe Mark can be sanctioned by the county commission? Or do we have to find a coroner (whoever that might be) and have Mark arrested?

Mark, do the right thing - for once - and pay the money you would have had to pay for the tickets to a local charity. Give it to St Jude, The Union Mission, etc. AND don't accept anything else. You already make plenty of money, plus you drive our car, burn our gas and have our credit card.

If you are reading this and you find yourself asking what the ..... was he thinking, why not email him at mark.luttrell@shelby-sheriff.org and let him know - he is wrong!

Gangster and Murder Suspect Sought - and Caught

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
McArthur Bobo, 27 wanted in connection with the December 23rd murder of Michael Gibbs, which occurred at 42 N. Claybrook. HAS BEEN ARRESTED BY UNION STATION OFFICERS.
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Kudos to the officers of Union Station! Another job well done!

The Memphis Police Department is looking for this suspect, McArthur Bobo, in regards to a murder that occurred in the downtown area a week ago. He has been identified as a member of the Crips, a local social group who specialize in terrorizing communities. If you encounter him, call the police, he is a bad boy who carries a gun and uses it. He has been arrested over 30 times for everything from burglary, to selling drugs, to assault, witness intimidation, arson, possession of an unlawful weapon, etc! Here's a link to the BOLO on McArthur Bobo

Thug Thursday - 12/27/2007

Click any of the images to Enlarge

The song goes, "I'll be home for Christmas..." and so it was for this week's "thug of the week" when he was arrested on Christmas Day and got to come back "home" for the 161st time. Freddie Warr RNI# 15061. Freddie is another 1 man terror team who has primarily stayed in the area of South Parkway and Kyle, and also near the CJC downtown, according to where he has been arrested. You see, Freddie, like many thugs tends to cause problems for those within a 1.5 mile radius of where he stays.

Here's an image of a map which plots his arrests:


Freddie is in jail today on a felony vandalism charge, plus violating a protective order and public intoxication. I hope the local legislators are looking at this blog and listening to Mike Fleming's show, because these "thugs" demonstrate why we need a sentencing matrix. How long must the people who live in this community put up with these criminals who refuse to contribute to society?

Here's the list of carnage caused by Freddie - by charge type:

How Many?

Murder is the unlawful killing of a human person with malice aforethought. Murder is generally distinguished from other forms of homicide by the elements of malice aforethought and the lack of lawful justification. All jurisdictions, ancient and modern, consider it a most serious crime. Most jurisdictions impose a severe penalty for its commission. (source wikipedia)

From time to time, I look at what people are searching for when they hit my blog. Usually, they want to find out where the dangerous areas of Memphis are, or they are inquiring about gangs, or they may want to know how many murders we've had. I started looking at those numbers and found out something I thought was interesting. It has been widely reported that we've had 160 Murders in 2007, but after looking at the data, I find that simply isn't true. We've had 132 Murder/Manslaughters and the others have been coded as "Justifiable Homicide". I think this is a gross injustice to say we've had 160 murders when roughly 18% of those were cases that involved someone taking a lawful action, that resulted in a death. It's an unfortunate thing, to have to take someone else's life, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

So, let's start reporting the offenses as they are. We need to be breaking the Justifiable Homicides out of the total picture, because they are not Murder.
Here's the breakdown:
130 Murders/Non Negligent Manslaughter
002 Manslaughter by Negligence
028 Justifiable Homicides

160 Total

Here's a look at where the 132 Murders/Manslaughters have occured this year:

MPD - Working in the War Zone

Lately, there has been a lot of news about the MPD working in the "war zones", particularly after a young man was shot. Many people who don't live in an area like this don't really understand how crime permeates the entire area. I've worked this particular area many times and it seemed every house in the neighborhood was occupied by drug dealers or gang bangers. If you take a quick look at the reported crimes within a .5 mile radius of Alaska and Henry, you will see 69 crimes. Those crimes include murder, robbery, rape, burglary, assault, drug offenses, etc. This is not an anomaly, it is the usual for this particular area of Memphis. I feel for the people who are forced to live in this area, because the gangsters, drug dealers and basic criminals make life extremely hard on them. I'm posting a prototype of what we will be exposing for the public within the next few months, so you can get a good idea of what I'm talking about. This is just the reported crimes. I'll follow it up with the sex offenders and warrants, as well.

The Memphis Police Department has been involved in a constant battle in this area of town, and you can throw several Sheriff's Officers in the middle of that fight too. I think we probably entered every house in the area while I was working with the SCSO's Fugitive Squad.

As you view this map, keep in mind that the addresses have been rounded to the nearest 100 block, so you aren't seeing the exact addresses of the reported crimes.

UPDATE - WARRANTS (50 Most Recent)

Thug of the Week 12-20-2007

This week's "Thug" is Kenneth Edwards rni # 90057 dob: 3-10-1959 Age: 48. He has been booked into the Shelby County Jail over 130 times. Like his predecessors, most of his charges are simple misdemeanors, and yes, he has a bunch of more serious cases.

He has been busted on 21 different occasions for Theft of Property, 7 Criminal Trespasses, 2 assaults, 2 unlawful possession of a weapon, 1 aggravated arson, 1 aggravated burglary, carrying a weapon on school property, felony vandalism, and a slew of other charges.

Kenneth was averaging 4 arrests per year, until 2004 when he was arrested 12 times. The following years he was arrested - 12,10 and 9 times respectively. He still has time to get arrested a few more times this year, if he doesn't procrastinate.

Here is a look at those charges:

CLICK TO ENLARGE


As a part of my day job at the MPD, I try to come up with better ways of addressing the crime problem. One thing we have started looking at is patterns of criminal behavior. So far, it appears that most criminals commit their crimes within a radius of about 1 - 1.5 miles from where they live. With that in mind, here is a graphical look at Kenneth Edwards's arrests. As a part of the Real Time Crime Center, we will be constantly hammering the data to look for trends, patterns, and behaviors. Developing this data will help us both solve and predict crimes. Here's Kenneth Edwards' arrest map - I think you'll see this supports my theory :

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Why Consolidate?

Personally, I am not for consolidation. I don't want my taxes to go any higher than they already are. However, at some point, there won't be much left that isn't incorporated into one of the cities of Shelby County and the SCSO will cease to patrol. I guess at that point, the shurf will be relegated to the courts and jail, leaving only fugitive to do anything resembling law enforcement. Then there will be a need for unified law enforcement. If and when that happens, the MPD will have to be the agency that handles it. A 300 man department can't consume one that has 2200.

I think commissioner, Mike Carpenter, has a good understanding of the problem with having a politician running the law enforcement agency. In one of the study group meetings, he said the following:

"But Carpenter said an elected law enforcement head is not without problems, as he emphasized he wasn't talking about Luttrell.

"I don't want to be at the mercy of an unqualified law enforcement officer who can play political games - who can go out and raise money - who can glad-hand folks," Carpenter said. "He can put together enough votes in a crowded field to get the job. Sure, there's some minimal qualifications ... but it doesn't mean you can actually do the job. And we're stuck for four years."

Mike may have emphasized he wasn't talking about Luttrell, but guess what, he was talking about Luttrell. The above scenario describes Mark to a tee, with the exception that the taxpayers will wind up suffering for eight years before he moves on. Mark Luttrell is a jailer, not a cop, and as such, he has no basis of understanding. This leads to him making stupid remarks like:

1. "what authority do we have to make arrests in Bartlett?" (compstats meeting 2004)
2. "We can't arrest our way out of crime" (television news report 2005)
3. "We don't have a big drug or gang problem in county schools" (news story 2005)
4. "Tasers are deadly weapons" (2007 WMC news story)

If the news media would stop legitimizing him as a law enforcement officer (he ain't), he would stop being a public embarrassment. I guess he would only be a private embarrassment then.

Luttrell raises money from convicts, then says he makes no apology for it, but stops taking "reported" contributions from convicts. He also uses his position to abuse and intimidate officers like the following few examples, which are just a few of many:

1. Inspector Judy Hughes was transferred from Fugitive to the report center after filing a county EEOC "hostile work environment" complaint. She supervised 8 clerks, with no captain, no lieutenants, no sergeants and no patrolmen under her authority. She is now retired.
2. Next up was Captain Bobby Simmons. He took Judy's place, and then the report center's clerks were reassigned, when the operation went paperless. Captain Simmons reported to work for about a year, with no-one to supervise. He had an office with a desk and chair, oh yeah and a phone.
3. There was this lieutenant who was transferred to the midnight shift of the Fugitive Bureau because he had said he was going to run for Sheriff.(yeah that would be me)

There are many other examples that could be cited, but that's an exercise in futility, because nobody seems to care. As for the intimidation factor, these things didn't intimidate me, but it certainly had a chilling effect on the other officers. Fortunately, I had enough time on the job that I could retire and get away from the asylum.

If you are one of those people who thinks Luttrell is so great, you might want to read about the federal lawsuit the deputies filed against him after he refused to negotiate with the Deputy Sheriff's Association. Additionally, the top three officers of the DSA have had time off (with pay) to conduct union business since the late '70s. Not anymore. Luttrell sent them all back to their bid positions - another intimidation move. He is refusing to negotiate with the deputies, because they decided they needed to be aligned with the teamsters. Since when can the Sheriff dictate who the officers can be affiliated with? I hope the deputies prevail in their lawsuit, and maybe even get awarded punitive, personal damages. We don't need a dictator at the SCSO.

As for me, I would rather keep things the way they are, except I think the shurf needs to deal with his area of expertise (jails) and leave the policing to those who know whereof they speak.

It's Thug of the Week - or - When does 156 Equal 252

She was just hangin with the boys, in a vacant building, in the 1300 block of Jefferson, when the "po po" showed up to take her back to jail. I'm sure it seems like yesterday to Carolyn, that first trip to jail in 1986, that is. Carolyn, or Sheila, or Sharon, or Debra, or Jane Doe, or Chocolate, or even Sweet Chocolate, whichever alias you use, has lived a notorious life of crime. This is her 156th time to be booked which is an amazing feat, considering she is only 44 years old.

Carolyn, like many of these "thugs", has primarily been charged with minor misdemeanors. But, her rap sheet lists major felonies, like the five robberies, 10 charges of selling cocaine, numerous thefts and on and on.... She has been charged with a total of 252 different violations. Her latest charge is criminal trespass, which carries a 100.00 bond that she apparently can't make. Not a major crime, is it? That may be true, and if it were her first, or even 10th offense, I might not be so ready to say throw the key away. The problem is she is just another example of an antisocial person who will always be a criminal until that last gasp. Once again, this is a perfect example that cries out for a sentencing matrix. At what point is enough, enough?

Here's her mugshot and rap sheet :

Local Media Can Help

If we are to get any changes enacted through the legislature, we are going to need all the help we can get. One thing that would really help is if every time local media reports on these thugs being arrested, they would tell us how many times, and for what offenses they have been arrested. It doesn't take that long to hit the JSSI website and count it up, though it would be nice if the clerk's website gave you that information for each individual.

A quick look at the two people who were arrested in the sex sting at Overton Park showed that Eddie McGhee has been booked into the county jail 31 times, and Eric Martin - 22 times. If the news outlets start talking about how many times each offender has been arrested, it will draw attention to this problem, and maybe our local legislators will start trying to deal with this issue.

MPD Issuing BOLOs via the web

We've started folding our Notifications(BOLO - Be On the LookOut) into the CyberWatch Reports and at some point, will have a webpage that lets you view the list of bolos. Here's an example of one of the announcements, which alerts the public to the theft of a bunch of Flat Panel LCD televisions. This doesn't mean you should go try to find one at a deep discount!