MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – The Memphis Police Department held its first monthly crime summit to teach business owners how to avoid becoming victims of criminals, crooks, and creeps.
The summits are hosted by retired Memphis police officers through a new program MPD started about a year and a half ago.
While the inaugural meeting Thursday night was sparsely attended—a lot of valuable information was shared with those in attendance.
Memphis business owners like Carmen Rivera with Centro Hispano Latino’s Taxes fed up with the city’s violence eagerly showed up to get a lesson in crime prevention from MPD.
“We’ve had clients of our own that have been victims of crimes,” Rivera told Action News 5, “and some of them passed away due to the crimes that happen in the Hispanic community.”
Leading this crime summit are Community Impact Officers, retired Memphis police officers who returned to the job to help a city in crisis.
“We created the positions,” said MPD Chief CJ Davis, “we created 50 positions to bring some very knowledgeable retired officers back. A lot of them want to continue to give in the community.”
They talk about the types of crimes being committed, the stores being targeted the most, and ways to protect both people and property like having good lighting, security guards, and even fog machines that foil burglaries.
“It releases a fog so thick,” said one officer, “it causes the perpetrator to lose their equilibrium. They can’t see it’s so thick.”
“There’s some grant money out there,” said Chief Davis, “and we will be working to identify some of those businesses that want to employ cameras that may not have the funds and help them access the grant money.”
Other community agencies also attended the summit to provide information, and a free dinner was provided. MPD looks locked in on teaming up with entrepreneurs to beat the bad guys.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Rivera, “A lot of people were invited to come and not a lot of them came. There was a lot of valuable information retained from the meeting itself. It makes us feel safer knowing that these meetings are happening.”
The next monthly meeting is planned for the Appling Farms precinct, and a special meeting just for Hispanic business owners is also in the works.
Contact MPD if you’d like to have a Community Impact Officer visit your business or store to assess your security system and offer advice on how to stay safe from crime.
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