Living Next To A Sewer

[roadwarrior]

I'm 25 miles from downtown Memphis in Germantown, TN. The city is one of the most

dangerous in the country, but worse today and is currently under siege with kidnappings,

hijacking and random murders.

Memphis, Tennessee, is among the U.S. cities with the highest homicide rates. There were a total of 289 murders reported in the city in 2020, or 44.4 for every 100,000 people — well above the national homicide rate of 6.5 murders per 100,000.

Even though homicide is the least common form of criminal violence — accounting for less than 2% of all violent crimes — places with high homicide rates also often have high overall violent crime rates, and Memphis is no exception. There were 2,352 violent crimes reported for every 100,000 people in Memphis in 2020, compared to 399 incidents per 100,000 nationwide.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/07/us/memphis-teacher-eliza-fletcher-killed-wednesday/index.htmlhttps://www.cnn.com/2022/09/07/us/memphis-shootings-suspect-detained/index.html

 

 

[flatcreek]

Sickening to see this happening.Lawlessness is running rampantly across our country.

[Bird]

That's insane ?

Every once in a while we'll have some drunk redneck go on a shooting spree and take out a family member.

 

I'm always cautious when traveling to big cities but prefer to avoid them all together.

Realize there's bad people everywhere but they're simply more consentrated in heavier population densities.

 

Guess I'm more naive to these insanely high crime rates living in such a rural area.

I've yet to lock a door at night.

 

Stay safe.

[gim]

Crime has definitely increased in urban areas during the past few years.  Obviously the pandemic played a role in that, and then the civil uprising/riots around the country following the Floyd incident here in Mpls.  The "defund the police" movement didn't help either.  A lot more people bought a gun recently, and many of them probably have never owned one.  Law enforcement only has so many resources and they have to prioritize.

 

Just yesterday there was an article in the newspaper here about the amount of speeding going on.  Speeding citations are down a whopping 360% from just 3 years ago in the Twin Cities because local police depts don't have the time to sit there and crack down on speeding anymore.  Its just not high on their list of priority in terms of law enforcement.  So when people know there's less of a chance of getting caught, they drive faster.  Its resulted in more accidents as a direct result too.

 

I don't consider myself to have a "lead" foot on the road, but I generally try to keep up with the flow of traffic.  That usually means going above the speed limit.  People are passing me with ease.

[roadwarrior]

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Just yesterday there was an article in the newspaper here about the amount of speeding going on.  Speeding citations are down a whopping 360% from just 3 years ago in the Twin Cities because local police depts don't have the time to sit there and crack down on speeding anymore.  Its just not high on their list of priority in terms of law enforcement.  

 

Traffic control is the most important tool for law enforcement. Bad people have bad habits.

[gim]

10 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Traffic control is the most important tool for law enforcement. Bad people have bad habits.

 

I agree, but when it comes right down to it, what is more important on the priority list of crime, a speeder or a violent criminal?  There just isn't enough resources to catch all the fish anymore, so they have to pick and choose which ones to target.

 

I saw that story yesterday about the lady who was found near Memphis.  She was nabbed by a guy and forced into a van.  They found the body 1/2 mile away.  Sickening to say the least.

[Skunkmaster-k]

Why all the murders?  

[GaryH]

I see one of the biggest issues is a vast majority of the people caught committing these felonies have rap sheets longer than your arm. Maybe returning these criminals to the street to prey on innocent people should actually spend their sentences in prison instead of catch and release or only serving 1/3 or 1/2 of there time.

[Big Rick]

44 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Speeding citations are down a whopping 360% from just 3 years ago in the Twin Cities because local police depts don't have the time to sit there and crack down on speeding anymore.  Its just not high on their list of priority in terms of law enforcement.

The biggest issue here isn't priorities as much as it's availability. Peace officers are quitting at an alarming rate. I don't blame them. When an officer puts his badge and gun on he is automatically guilty in the court of public opinion and is one 5 second phone video clip away from losing his family, retirement, and quality of life in general. 

 

[gim]

10 minutes ago, Big Rick said:

The biggest issue here isn't priorities as much as it's availability.

I don't disagree with that.  I think the prioritization is a result of the availability.  When there isn't as many officers, crime simply has to be prioritized.

 

And just for transparency, I work for a federal law enforcement agency.  I don't deal with violent criminals, but when I conduct investigations, they are prioritized by a risk score.  I simply can't get to all of them, so I have to prioritize based on significance, repeat violators, etc.  If we had more officers, we could get to more of them but right now there's just not enough of us to do all of it.  We have some new people are being trained but its going to be a while until they can do this on their own.

[NavyToad]

I follow 2 small town Sheriff’s departments on Fbook. Times have surely changed EVERYWHERE. 
I’d opine further, but I’d probably end up on someone’s watch list.

[Mobasser]

Very sad what's going on in the cities. I rehabbed old homes in KC Missouri years ago. Many bad areas. I never had any trouble, but always had a crew of carpenters with me. I wouldn't work on KCs east side today.                        My family went to the KC zoo last summer, and had a picnic at the park there. We heard gunshots and sirens close by. That's it guys, time to go home!

[Mobasser]

I think part of the problem is that's there's so many folks not working. They have too much time on they're hands. But in reality, a thug is a thug, regardless if he's working or not. Drug use is a huge problem also.

[roadwarrior]

It's mostly drugs.

[Mobasser]

2 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

It's mostly drugs.

I think this is the #1 problem also

[volzfan59]

1 hour ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

Why all the murders?  

In Memphis? Welcome to "Thug life". I'll drive through Memphis on the interstate if I have to, I won't stop in Memphis. As much as I want to go to the BPS/ Pyramid, I probably won't. 

[roadwarrior]

For the most part, daytime is relatively safe. 90% of violent crime occurs after midnight.

It also depends on where you are. Like other cities, there are simply areas you should

avoid.

 

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

Why all the murders?  

Lack of love . Knoxville is not far behind Memphis, it’s like the Wild West 

[gim]

When I initially saw the title of this thread, I thought of this.  You'll never look at a storm drain the same again lol

 

[Darth-Baiter]

that sucks.  i was sad to see "sewer" used as a euphamism.  i'd rather live next to an actual sewer.  

 

San Fransisco has been getting lots of bad press, and it is official my neighboring "sewer".  but at least it isnt a murder capital!  that is scary.  i have dinner reservations for my wife's birthday in SF.  i am taking an Uber or rolling in my beater truck.  no way i take my wifes nice car.  no way.  

[Big Rick]

3 hours ago, gimruis said:

I don't disagree with that.  I think the prioritization is a result of the availability.  When there isn't as many officers, crime simply has to be prioritized.

 

And just for transparency, I work for a federal law enforcement agency.  I don't deal with violent criminals, but when I conduct investigations, they are prioritized by a risk score.  I simply can't get to all of them, so I have to prioritize based on significance, repeat violators, etc.  If we had more officers, we could get to more of them but right now there's just not enough of us to do all of it.  We have some new people are being trained but its going to be a while until they can do this on their own.

Agree 100%. I'm a retired LEO. I was never assigned traffic patrol, but those guys get a ton of arrests using speeding, burned out lights, and such as probably cause to make a stop. 

 

Thanks for your service. Keep your 6 covered because you can count on plenty of cell phone cameras looking at your back when you strap the badge on. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

We can't discuss the root causes of this or folks will get locks, bans, timeouts....I've already found that out

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

We can't discuss the root causes of this or folks will get locks, bans, timeouts....I've already found that out

You’re learning! Keep that crap on Facebook 

[throttleplate]

5 hours ago, gimruis said:

Just yesterday there was an article in the newspaper here about the amount of speeding going on. 

 

Speeding and red light running is now common in little old hodunk fargo, nd.

I drive the speed limit no matter the flow of traffic.

It ticks so many people off that they hammer the throttle and zoom around me even on residential streets.

Moments after the display of their lead foot most times i end up next to or behind them at a red light or stop sign.

[Darth-Baiter]

7 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

 

Speeding and red light running is now common in little old hodunk fargo, nd.

I drive the speed limit no matter the flow of traffic.

It ticks so many people off that they hammer the throttle and zoom around me even on residential streets.

Moments after the display of their lead foot most times i end up next to or behind them at a red light or stop sign.

there is on red light on my way to Clearlake.  at 2:30 in the morning the sensor in the roadway must be not functioning.  i can sit at that red light all by my lonesome for 10 minutes.  last time the CHP next to me got tired of waiting and waved me thru..then blasted by himself.  it was unnatural feeling just going on RED like that.    the coincidence of me getting skunked that day is not lost on me.