'You have influence.' What mayors were set to discuss at Black Mayors' Coalition on Crime in Memphis
The Black Mayors' Coalition on Crime began its inaugural meeting in Memphis Wednesday night with almost 20 mayors and top city officials from across the United States traveling to the city for the closed-door meetings.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young said that there is a need for in-person discussion to combat and come up with solutions to address crime.
"This is not a conversation that we can rush through. This is something that we need to dig deep. Because violent crime didn't start in the past two or three years. This has been going on for many, many years and it's due to deeply entrenched root cause issues," he said.
Young also said that something he would like to see come out of the summit is a replication of Operation G.O.O.D. started in Jackson, Mississippi to address vehicle theft.
The City of Memphis footed the bill for the room rental at the Hyatt Centric and also the food guests ate. The Black Business Association sponsored the welcome event Wednesday night, where guests attended the Grizzlies game against the Lakers.
During the opening remarks Thursday morning, Young said that the goal of the summit was to strengthen the "bond" of leaders across the country and work together to define strategies to increase public safety.
"I know in your communities and all across the country we are having dialogues around how to reduce crime. We know that nationally, there was an overall reduction in crime. In Memphis last year, we didn't get to experience that," Young said.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and interim Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis were also in attendance during the opening remarks.
More: Mayors from across the US came to Memphis to talk crime. How their crime rates compare
Young and the African American Mayors Association teamed up to launch a summit dedicated to fighting crime across the nation. This event is the first of its kind, and also Young's first event where he has put the city on center stage since taking office in January.
The idea for the summit and beginning stages of planning began before Young was sworn in.
The summit was limited to black mayors, and Young said it is important to have those who are directly impacted by crime at higher rates be the center stage of the conversation about crime.
"I think it's really, really important that the individuals that are from the communities that are the subject of the dialogues are the ones leading the conversation," Young said. "We know that nationally there are a significant number of African American mayors leading large, medium and small cities all across this country."
Dr. Russell Wigginton, President of the National Civil Rights Museum, was the facilitator of the two-day event which features talks on effective policing, crime data and special operations police departments have executed. Wigginton also gave remarks before the summit began, saying that 60 years ago they would not be sitting in the room as leaders of their city.
"Imagine 60 years ago in this country...you would not be sitting around this table. You would still have influence in your community. But now you have influence over the entire cities that you lead," Wigginton said. "And you set the tone for what happens in those cities. You set the cultural, the political, the economic tone for your cities and this issue of crime is something that crosses over into all of those dimensions."
Wigginton said that backroom conversations were extremely instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement, and while they were not secret, they were needed to "hammer out solutions."
"There were a lot of backroom conversations, not secret per se but, close the door, let's, with civility and respect, hammer out solutions," Wigginton said. "Our cities...our country and our world is counting on it because people are paying attention if the cities represented in this room, make progress in real or perceived crime."
Brooke Muckerman covers Shelby County Government for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at (901) 484-6225, brooke.muckerman@commercialappeal.com and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter @BrookeMuckerman.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Black Mayors' Colalition on Crime has innaugural conference in Memphis
