Strategy #13:

Build a communications campaign that promotes tough consequences for crime.
Team Leader: Shea Flinn, Councilman, City of Memphis

Extended Anti-Crime Public Service Campaign Helps Criminals Get the Message
Thanks to the generous support from the Memphis City Council, Operation: Safe Community has been engaging in an intensive media campaign since December 2009. In addition to the continued television, radio and print ads, OSC recently added to the campaign large ads on the exterior of MATA buses, billboards and cinema advertising at select MALCO movie theaters. 

The new creative focuses heavily on domestic violence related incidents with three chilling headlines and visuals from the television spot “Chill. Don’t Kill.” With a recent spike in domestic violence in the city of Memphis, up 11.3% from the same time last year, Operation: Safe Community hopes that this memorable messaging will resonate with the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County.

Strategy #7:

Sustain and expand student safety initiatives in public school systems.

Team Leaders: Dr. Kriner Cash, Superintendent, MCS and John Aitken, Superintendent, SCS

Making Memphis City Schools a Safe Place to Learn
Memphis City Schools is making great strides to ensure that all schools are equipped with the resources needed to create safe environments for learning. Children go back to school in a matter of weeks and while students are busy getting school supplies and uniforms, Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash and MCS have also been busy getting prepared. 

• Beginning this fall, every middle and high school will have at least one officer.
• All teachers have been certified in Crisis Prevention and Intervention (CPI) training and select teachers have been certified in Kingian Non-Violence Training.
• All middle and high schools have metal detectors and cameras and high incident schools additionally have x-ray machines for bags and handheld metal detectors.
• The Student Identification System has been implemented.
• Four Truancy Assessment Centers have opened and a truancy hotline number has been established (416-8111) to pick-up children and assess the behavioral and familial situations that are keeping them from attending school.
• Parent Link has been implemented and is designed to notify parents when their students have been truant more than five times.
• School House Adjustment Program Enterprise (S.H.A.P.E.) has been implemented as an alternative to Juvenile Court for students committing minor infractions within MCS.
• Gang Reduction Assistance for Saving Society’s Youth (G.R.A.S.S.Y) will be implemented in an intense model in six North Memphis and one downtown school beginning this school year.
• The Hamilton Public Safety Academy will launch this school year and is designed to expose youth to careers in public safety.
  

We have a new look!

Operation: Safe Community Spearheaded by the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission has a New Look!

This newsletter along with our website operationsafecommunity.org are undergoing an exciting transformation. With the assistance of Speak! Creative, the newsletter and website have been designed to be as informative, concise and user-friendly as possible.

Our goal is to ensure that the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County know about Operation: Safe Community and have the opportunity to be engaged in helping make our community safer.

Calendar of Events Click on the links below to find out more about each event. Prison Fellowship Foundational Prison Ministry Training Saturday, August 1, 2009 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Engage in a day long training session with prisoners and their families to provide the integral support and preparation needed prior to re-entry into our community.  For more information, or to register, click here. Annual National Night Out Tuesday, August 4, 2009 The 26th Annual National Night Out is a unique and impacting crime and drug prevention event.  Each year hundreds of events take place in communities throughout Memphis and Shelby County as a celebratory stance against crime. To coordinate and register your community's event visit www.nationalnightout.org Neighborhood Leaders Conference Hosted by Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) Friday, August 7, 2009 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. An annual event coordinated by MLGW that is designed to provide training and networking opportunities for grassroots community leaders. This year's theme is Green and Clean Communities. For more information or to register click here. Rape Prevention & Education Institute “Somebody Say Something: Mobilizing Your Community to Prevent Violence” Hosted by Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence August 31 – September 1, 2009 The Tennessee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence’s 1st Annual Rape Prevention Education Institute, Somebody Say Something: Mobilizing Your Community to Prevent Violence, is a two-day prevention based conference providing training opportunities, networking, and information to advocates working in the rape prevention education field. For more information or to register click here. SAVE THE DATE Project Safe Childhood and Family Violence Seminar Sponsored by the Office of the U.S. Attorney Tuesday, September 22, 2009 Speakers for the event include Linda Cordisco Steele of the National Child Advocacy Center, Sarah Buel of the School of Law, University of Texas at Austin, Anne Seymour and Aurelia Sands Bell of Justice Solutions and Dan Newsom, Assistant United States Attorney. More details concerning event registration to follow.   Speakers Available for Domestic Violence Awareness Month October, 2009 October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  “Raising Families. Erasing Violence.” has coordinated a group of available community advocators to speak about the dynamics of domestic crime and the community’s response.  To book a speaker for your meeting or event in October, please click here

Tune In The last Tuesday of each month, Operation: Safe Community is featured on WREG Channel 3's "Live at Nine" hosted by Mary Beth Conley and Alex Coleman. Shelby County District Attorney General and chair of Operation: Safe Community, Bill Gibbons was the guest this month. General Gibbons provided the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County with key accomplishments and updates on some of the 14 remaining strategies of OSC. Stay Involved ›with some volunteer opportunities available from our partners.

Stay Connected

Make sure your friends, business associates and neighborhood associations are connected to Operation: Safe Community!

Forward this enewsletter to a friend ›

If your organization would like a speaker regarding OSC, contact Linda K. Miller at lmiller@memphiscrime.org.

Contact Us

Operation: Safe Community is spearheaded by the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission.

600 Jefferson Ave, Suite 400
Memphis, TN 38105
(901) 527-2600

info@operationsafecommunity.org