‘Clean them up or shut them down.’ Crime in Frayser apartments leaves residents asking for help
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The future of a Frayser apartment is called into question on Wednesday night after neighbors brought their concerns to city leaders.
They claim that crime at Ridgecrest Apartments is spilling into the neighborhoods and making them fear for their own safety.
“It’s simple,” one Frayser resident said. “Clean them up or shut them down.”
They are not alone in their complaints against the complex.
MPD Police Chief, CJ Davis, says that Ridgecrest Apartments are becoming a public nuisance.
“We know about Ridgecrest Apartments,” Davis said. “I have been to Ridgecrest Apartments a number of times talking to their manager, trying to talk to their corporate office too and anybody who lives in the proximity, unfortunately I have to say it, it is a problem.”
Some Frayser residents who live next door in the Grandview Heights neighborhood aired their grievances to city leaders on Tuesday night during the ‘Memphis One‘ tour.
‘One Memphis’ tour connects residents with city leaders
“I have witnessed murders, I know. Shootings, I know. Shootouts at the gate down there, I know,” one resident said.
According to the Memphis Data Hub, there have been 255 police reports filed within a quarter mile radius of Ridgecrest over the last year.
District Attorney Steve Mulroy compared the situation at Ridgecrest to the Parkway Village subsidized housing complex, Peppertree Apartments. It took two years of litigation, before it was ultimately shut down.
Mulroy said MPD hasn’t confronted him about Ridgecrest yet, but if they do, his office will gladly look into it.
“Our prosecutors that work on this type of thing work in partnership with the police department and do investigations about the number of incidents, calls for service, crimes that occur within the site or within a short radius around the site,” Mulroy said.
As residents wait to see what is done about the crime, they ask for help from city leaders in the meantime.
“I would love to have a skycop,” one resident said. “I’m asking for one to be put up so that that will help us to feel more safer because the police can see what’s going on in that neighborhood.”
WREG reached out to Ridgecrest Apartments and their ownership group, Alco management. Once we receive a response back we will provide an update.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
