State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) penned an open letter on Tuesday to Governor Bill Lee asking him to consider his administration contracting with a consulting firm to fight Memphis crime.
Taylor requested a meeting with Lee “to discuss the possibility of your administration contracting with a credible, high-profile, public safety consulting firm to serve as the state’s expert consultant in Memphis to provide a comprehensive plan to reduce crime,” Taylor posted on X.
🧵FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 🚨 Sen. Taylor sends letter to Gov. Lee requesting TN engage public safety consultant firm run by William Bratton, former NYC Police Comm who helped make NYC the safest big city in the world, to develop crime reduction strategies for Memphis crime problem. pic.twitter.com/45mxp95pGb
— Senator Brent Taylor (@SenBrentTaylor) May 28, 2024
“You [Governor Lee] stated, ‘the state can’t solve Memphis’ crime problem for them, but the state can solve Memphis’ crime problem with them,'” Taylor said in the letter. “I have thought a great deal about that statement since that day in your office.”
Taylor (pictured above) said he envisions a partnership with former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton, who is now a leader at the consulting firm Teneo. As police commissioner from 1994 to 1996, Bratton worked under New York Mayor Rudy Guliani to fight the city’s crime.
The rate of violent crime in New York City decreased dramatically during Bratton’s time as commissioner, according to FBI crime statistics.
Teneo describes itself as “the global CEO advisory firm,” according to its website, and is based out of New York. At Teneo, Bratton works on risk advisory.
“I suggested Teneo in the letter because I have knowledge of William Bratton’s work as NYC Police Commissioner,” Taylor told The Tennessee Star via email when asked why he wants Governor Lee to contract Teneo. “Mr. Bratton helped make NYC the safest big city in America… If the governor chooses not to engage Teneo, I trust his judgment to select a quality consultant if he chooses to pursue my request.”
Taylor said in the letter that Teneo, or whichever consulting firm Lee agrees to, would cooperate with Memphis administration and law enforcement to assess current practices and policies and make recommendations for policy, legislation, and procedure to the city and the Tennessee General Assembly.
“I hope I can meet with the governor as soon as his schedule permits,” Taylor told The Star. “He has always been very gracious with his time and attention whenever I have asked to meet with him.”
Toward the end of his letter, Taylor warned to avoid “restorative justice schemers” who offer public safety consulting.
“In my opinion, organizations such as Just City, Decarcerate Memphis, Vera Institute of Justice, and Justice Innovation Lab do not share our Tennessee values,” Taylor continued. “These out-of-state funded groups support restorative justice schemes which serve to ignore crime victims, defund our police, and advocate for cashless bail making Tennesseans less safe.”
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Matthew Giffin is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Matthew on X/Twitter.
Photo “Brent Taylor” by Brent Taylor. Background Photo “Memphis Skyline” by photophone02. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Nope! Memphis needs to solve its own problems.
Maybe if all of the THP troopers that were hanging around the Legislature for the last six months had been deployed to Memphis, taxpayers wouldn’t be having to look at funding something like this.