Editor’s notebook: Attacks on Shelby County district attorney won’t solve crime

Sen. Brent Taylor, a Memphis Republican, is seeking to oust Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, blaming him for crime in Memphis. Mulroy has been in office less than two years. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Politics has never been a game of subtleties, and one issue that is proven to gin up strong emotions is crime. Republicans return to it year after year, leveraging fright in order to motivate voters.

Tennessee Republican Sen. Brent Taylor is castigating Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy for being “soft on crime,” going so far as to call for Mulroy’s impeachment or removal by the Tennessee General Assembly. 

Barely a day passes without Taylor or House Speaker Cameron Sexton taking a swipe at Mulroy. On June 11, Sexton posted of Mulroy: “He’s soft on criminals — he makes Memphis unsafe! He pushes a dangerous ideology & agenda. He wants gun control on law abiding citizens — but is good with felons possessing firearms. DA Mulroy kowtowing to criminals once again!”

Taylor has expressed outrage that Mulroy won’t prosecute aggravated prostitution, sending a letter to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti asking him to investigate a May agreement between Mulroy and the U.S. Department of Justice: the agreement came as a result of a complaint filed by the DOJ against Mulroy’s office for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by prosecuting people with HIV under the harsher prostitution statute. So Taylor may not like it, but Mulroy has little option unless he wants to go to war with the feds — and lose again. 

Everything I’ve said about @SteveMulroy901 is true! He’s soft on criminals – he makes Memphis unsafe! He pushes a dangerous ideology & agenda. He wants gun control on law abiding citizens – but is good with felons possessing firearms. DA Mulroy kowtowing to criminals once again! https://t.co/A1bZ4XiYDR

— Speaker Cameron Sexton (@CSexton25) June 11, 2024

But Taylor went over the edge when Mulroy, during a June 10 speaking engagement, announced a diversion program that would allow felons convicted of nonviolent offenses found to possess guns to avoid prison time. Mulroy told the Daily Memphian, which broke the story, that the program could better be described as a “supervised offender program,” one that is not out of the ordinary.

Amid the backlash, Mulroy dropped the not-yet-implemented program days after first floating the idea, but Taylor confirmed he will still file a resolution for Mulroy’s removal as soon as the November general election is over and it’s possible to file legislation for the coming session. In his latest action, Taylor has set up a “hotline” for anyone with a beef about Mulroy to vent through.

Taylor told the Lookout’s Sam Stockard he’s tired of Shelby County people asking him to push for stronger gun control and Mulroy refusing to enforce the laws already in effect for weapons.

According to data from the Memphis-Shelby County Crime Commission, all types of crime — violent crime, major property crimes — have decreased significantly over the last year. 

Perception, however, is reality. It’s likely the case that plenty of folks in Shelby County don’t feel safe, and it may well be true that they are talking to Taylor. The declining crime statistics don’t mean that Memphians aren’t experiencing crime — clearly, they are — and this needs to be addressed for the wellbeing of city residents.

But based on the reported decline, something is working, and blame for continued crime can’t be laid at Mulroy’s feet: He was elected less than two years ago, handily beating Republican Amy Weirich, who had held the office since 2011.  

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy (Karen Pulfer Focht/Tennessee Lookout)

If solutions to crime are solely the responsibility of the county’s chief prosecutor, I wonder where the Republican outrage was during Weirich’s 11-year tenure, a period in which — according to the Crime Commission — crime soared. 

I can’t find evidence of any public complaints from lawmakers about Weirich’s performance, despite a 2017 Harvard Law School project ranking her office as highest among all Tennessee district attorneys for prosecutorial misconduct. 

Nor have I heard criticism of the Memphis Police Department, which surely bears some of the responsibility for apprehending those who commit crimes and which has drawn attention over the last couple of years for gross misdeeds, including the beating of Tyre Nichols, which ended with Nichols’ death.

Crime is a complex issue, one that involves poverty and education as well as policing, justice and gun policy, words Tennessee Republicans can’t bring themselves to utter. Tennessee has some of the loosest gun laws in the country, thanks to Gov. Bill Lee and legislative Republicans, who voted to allow permitless gun carry and Skrmetti, who settled a lawsuit that allows 18-year-olds to carry firearms without a permit. 

If Tennessee Republicans are serious about increasing public safety in Tennessee’s largest city, there are a host of strategies they can undertake to begin developing solutions, including working across the aisle with the Democrats who represent the majority of Memphis and Shelby County, calling for police accountability, and both funding and engaging with existing community organizations that work in high-crime areas to provide interventions — particularly to youth — to provide a detour from criminal activities.

But that requires far more effort than name-calling and grandstanding. Addressing crime in Memphis — and other cities  — will require thoughtful leadership and a willingness to admit booting out a duly-elected district attorney won’t solve the problem. Based on the escalating rhetoric and drum-beating from Taylor, that’s not likely to happen, and at the mercy of politicians will again be Memphis residents, caught in the political crossfire.

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