Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said in a Tuesday press conference that he is officially pushing Memphis to build its own crime lab, citing the sheer amount of crime happening in the city. His call follows an analysis that showed Memphis with the highest homicide rate in the United States in 2023.
Mulroy (pictured above) said a crime lab in Memphis would allow authorities to solve crimes “at a higher rate” and noted a number of new investigative resources it would offer local law enforcement.
“We used to have a local crime lab here in Memphis not too long ago, and it got moved to Jackson,” Mulroy said, referencing the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) facility that moved from Memphis to Jackson in 2021.
Mulroy added, “Given the volume and demand and the need we have in Shelby County, it makes little sense for us to have to ferry samples back and forth between Memphis and Jackson on a regular basis.”
The district attorney claimed the new facility would also give police new options that the TBI cannot provide. Mulroy claimed a local crime lab would be able to provide rapid DNA testing, as well as DNA testing of spent shell casings, non-homicide cases, and property crimes, though he acknowledged that “everyone is prioritizing violent crime.”
Mulroy also claimed a local crime lab would offer “cell phone digital forensic analysis” for law enforcement in “a wide variety of cases.”
Though it is the first time Mulroy has called for a crime lab in Memphis, it has been a topic of frequent discussion for city leaders since 2022. Last year, the Memphis City Council dedicated $300,000 to study the feasibility of a crime lab after previously setting aside $600,000 to fund feasibility and engineering for such a facility. Fox 13 noted that Nashville’s crime lab cost the city $32 million when it was completed in 2014. The crime lab requires $8 million per year to maintain, according to Fox 13.
The district attorney’s decision to join the chorus requesting a crime lab comes after an analysis showed Memphis had the highest homicide rate in the United States, surpassing that of cities including Detroit and Chicago. Memphis also lost about five percent of its population between 2017 and 2022, with about 30,000 residents leaving the city.
Mulroy recently drew sharp criticism from State Representative Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), who asked the Tennessee District Attorneys Conference to investigate the district attorney’s agreements with three “restorative justice organizations.”
Specifically, Taylor cited Mulroy’s agreements with two organizations that seek to reduce or eliminate cash bail and a third that wants district attorneys to prosecute fewer cases.
In a December 2023 appearance on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, Taylor said he is concerned these organizations have special access to real-time bail data from law enforcement.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Bingo.
This is a perfect example of leftist thinking.
I have no problem with a crime lab in Shelby County, but…
Crime labs, cool as they may be on TV, are only useful AFTER the crime has been committed.