Memphis Mayor: Guard Could Help with Officer Deficit, But I Don't Want Them

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Weeknight,” Memphis Mayor Paul Young stated that the city is short hundreds of officers and with the National Guard, “we can certainly find ways to use their support to back up the efforts of our Memphis Police Department and our Shelby County Sheriff’s Department.” But he doesn’t want the National Guard there.

After Young said that he doesn’t want the National Guard in the city, co-host Symone Sanders Townsend asked, “In Washington, D.C., … the National Guard is picking up trash. They are literally — ANC commissioners have sent out emails asking for suggestions from the citizens of the district about what beautification projects the National Guard can participate in. So, what exactly can the guard do for you in Memphis, Tennessee? Like, you’ve got a trash problem? I thought some of the things that you have been working on in terms of working with the violence interrupters, talking to the gangs, those kind of things are things that I’m familiar with that you have been engaged on, that have worked to bring some of the — to try to get your arms around the issue of crime in your city. What is the National Guard going to do for you? And I’m asking in this way because I hear you saying, it’s your understanding they’re coming, but what are they going to do when they get there?”

Young responded, “Well, we’re still going — we’re still working to figure that out, but I certainly have a list of things that I think they could help with. We do have issues with blight in our community, and if there is a way for them to help support our team on that front. We have a deficit of about 3-500 officers that we need, and while they won’t be serving in a law enforcement capacity, there may be things that they can do on major events and help coordinate traffic and things like that when we have big crowds as we get into football season with the University of Memphis or Grizzlies’ games. So, I think that, as we have conversations, we can certainly find ways to use their support to back up the efforts of our Memphis Police Department and our Shelby County Sheriff’s Department.”

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