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Weekend Crime Suppression Effort Leads to 25 Arrests and More than 150 Traffic Tickets

Release Date: March 15, 2004

Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies took a “zero tolerance” stance regarding criminal activity, traffic violations, and impaired driving in selected parts of Memphis and Shelby County this past weekend.

“Concerns voiced by residents and our crime statistics pointed to the need to combine our resources. These crime suppression efforts will be on-going as we work to help reduce crime in Memphis and Shelby County neighborhoods,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark Luttrell, Jr.

On Friday, March 12, 2004, the Patrol, Traffic, D.U.I. and Reserve divisions had additional officers on the streets from 6 p.m. until midnight in East Memphis and East Shelby County. The enforcement area was:

• North-Summer Avenue (Highway 70)
• South-Macon Road
• East-Canada Road
• West-Appling Road

Since January 2004, the Sheriff’s Office has investigated 44 crashes in the target area. Some of those accidents involved impaired drivers.

The crime suppression effort yielded:

• Traffic Citations: 104
• Courtesy Citations: 11
• Juvenile Summons: 1 (teenager with no driver’s license)
• Arrests: 3 (2 suspended license, 1 cocaine possession)

On Saturday, March 13, 2004, Approximately 40 Reserve Deputies, Emergency Services personnel along with D.U.I., Patrol, and Metro Gang Unit officers concentrated their enforcement efforts from 6 p.m. until midnight in the Northaven area in north Shelby County. The boundaries were:

• North-Robertson Road
• South-East Circle Road
• East-North Watkins
• West-Benjestown Road

Officers addressed traffic violations and investigated all criminal behavior in the area. Here are the results of the enforcement effort:

• Arrests: 22 (which included four for driving under the influence, one for cocaine possession)
• Traffic Citations: 25
• Courtesy Tickets: 42

Deputies say neighborhood residents had reported a recent increase in illegal drug sales and the traffic associated with those roadside drug deals. The use of reserve officers for these neighborhood crime suppression efforts saved thousands of dollars in personnel expenses.

“We appreciate the efforts of our reserve deputies and emergency services volunteers. They will continue to be used routinely in these crime-fighting efforts,” said Sheriff Luttrell.

 

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