Habitual truancy is a significant predictor of juvenile crime and gang involvement. An analysis by the Shelby County District Attorney's Office indicates that on school days, about 25 percent of all juvenile crimes are committed during school hours and in locations other than school campuses. These crimes are attributed to truant and suspended students. Implementing a mentoring-based truancy reduction program is one of the strategies in the Operation: Safe Community action plan.

The D.A.'s Truancy Reduction Program matches adult mentors with habitually truant youths. In lieu of prosecution for truancy, and with the parents' consent, students participate in the program. According to an evaluation conducted by the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Memphis, there is a clear reduction in truancy rates for students who participated in the truancy reduction program.

“The Shelby County District Attorney General's Office has a long standing commitment to address and reduce truancy in our schools," said District Attorney General Amy Weirich. "We are eager to engage the best known practices in order to further the goal of ending truancy."

To learn some of those best practices and discuss ways to strengthen the D.A.’s mentoring program, Weirich recently met with Juvenile Court Judge Curtis Person. Judge Person proposed the D.A.’s mentor group share training sessions that are being conducted for the Court’s auxiliary probation officers (APOs).

The Juvenile Court system’s mentoring program, the Auxiliary Probation Service (APS), utilizes trained community volunteers to provide hands-on supervision of juveniles on probation in Memphis and Shelby County. The APOs work toward improving patterns of behavior and help probationers function as law-abiding citizens.

“The all-volunteer Auxiliary Probation Service has been a vital part of Juvenile Court operations for 46 years,” Judge Person said. “APOs are mentors and role models for young people who are troubled or in trouble. They guide and monitor the progress of juveniles placed on probation under their supervision. APOs develop positive interaction and support for the juveniles by visiting with their family members, teachers, principals and influential community leaders.”

The Court’s Volunteer Services Bureau coordinates the work of the APOs and regularly sponsors training sessions. Volunteers participating in the program undergo background checks, orientation and training before working directly with juveniles.

Both Weirich and Person concluded the D.A.’s mentor group could benefit from the experience and example of the APOs, who have maintained their effectiveness for many years with consistent training and dedicated leadership.

To learn more about the D.A.’s mentoring program, contact Harold Collins at 901-545-5900 or download the mentor application to volunteer.

City of Memphis Crime Update: January - May 2011

From January 1-May 31, 2011, major violent crime, consisting of murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault and robbery, continued to decline, down 27.5 percent when compared to the same time period in 2006.

Major property crime has also shown tremendous decline this year, down 35.4 percent across the City of Memphis when compared to the first five months of 2006.

Shelby County Crime Update: January - May 2011

From January 1-May 31, 2011, major violent crime was down 27.4 percent, including a drop in murder by 29.2 percent and a drop in aggravated assault by 16.3 percent across all jurisdictions of Shelby County, when compared to the same time period in 2006.

Major property crime has decreased by 35.6 percent with a 29 percent drop in burglaries and 57.7 percent decline in motor vehicle theft throughout the county, when compared to the same time period in 2006.

View the full Operation: Safe Community Monthly Crime Trend Report administered by The University of Memphis and the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission.

A 25-Year Look at Crime in Memphis and Shelby County

The University of Memphis Center for Community Criminology and Research has compiled a 25-year summary of crimes in Memphis from 1985-2010. View the year by year count for major violent and major property crimes.

Operation: Safe Community
Live at 9, WREG News Channel 3
Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong and Professor Richard Janikowski discuss Operation: Safe Community.

Community LIFT

Community LIFT is an organization whose mission is to revitalize neighborhoods through strategic investments in the areas of human capacity-building and economic and community development that result in sustainable thriving communities. Increasing neighborhood restoration is a goal in the Operation: Safe Community action plan. Partnering with community organizations such as Community LIFT is one way Memphis Shelby Crime Commission is working to reach that goal. Currently Community LIFT has selected three target areas – Binghampton, Frayser and South Memphis – for its efforts. Frayser is also a target area for the OSC Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan. Learn more about Community LIFT.

Boys Incorporated

Strengthening families and improving parental participation is a strategy of the OSC Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan. MSCC is a community partner in Dads 2 School, an initiative of Boys Incorporated. Boys Incorporated needs your help to rally with hundreds of other dads who will take their children to school on the first day of the new school year. Help send a message to our communities that fathers are committed to the wellbeing and the education of our children.

For additional information, join Boys Incorporated at the planning meeting on Thursday, July 14 at
1:30 p.m. at the Urban Child Institute or contact Executive Director Reginald Johnson at reginaldjohnson@boysincorporated.org.

Job Opportunity:
Marketing and Community Relations Manager, Memphis Shelby Crime Commission

The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in creating, developing and seizing awareness-building opportunities. The person must have knowledge of the Memphis SMSA and current issues surrounding crime, neighborhood capacity, public/private sector partnerships and youth resiliency. The person must be exceedingly well organized, flexible and a strategic thinker. The ability to interact with diverse staff, Board and program partners, sometimes under pressure, remaining flexible, proactive, resourceful and efficient, with a high level of confidentiality and professionalism is crucial to this role. This position reports to Executive Director and acts a liaison for Board of Directors.

To apply, send a resume and cover letter by mail to:
Memphis and Shelby Crime Commission
600 Jefferson Ave., Suite 400 | Memphis, TN 38105
Or by email to: wwhite@memphiscrime.org.

Deadline for all submissions is July 13, 2011.

Thank You

The OSC Youth Violence Prevention Plan will be launched in Frayser later this year, and thanks to our student intern, Whitney Maxwell, we will have a much better understanding of the neighborhood in order to make the plan as effective as possible. Whitney, an anthropology student at The University of Memphis, has been tasked with researching the dynamics of the Frayser community and how it is affected by youth violence. In addition to the research, Whitney has also been asked to explore the STRYVE (Striving To Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere) website as a tool to engaging community members and to develop a brochure to communicate her findings. We appreciate all of Whitney’s efforts.

STRYVE

STRYVE is a national initiative led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent youth violence before it starts among young people ages 10 to 24. STRYVE Online (www.safeyouth.gov) provides communities with the knowledge and resources to be successful in preventing youth violence. Resources include:

• Access to the latest information and tools
• Effective strategies based upon the best available evidence
• Training and technical assistance
• Online community workspaces
• Connections to other communities

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