Religious Leaders Team Up with Law Enforcement

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The badge and the Bible are coming together to help fight crime in Memphis.

The Shelby County district attorney, FBI and other law enforcement agencies met with area ministers to discuss crime in Memphis.

The meeting, between ministers and law enforcement, was held at the St. Jude Baptist Church on East Trigg. The very church, in which the meeting was held to address crime, Thursday, is not immune to crime.

“There has not been a building on our property, that has not been vandalized or AC Units stolen in the last 2 years,” said Ken Harrison with St. Jude Baptist.

The Shelby County district attorney, Memphis Police and
FBI special agent in charge, Amy Hess, met with ministers at St. Jude Baptist Church.

She said gangs, neighborhood crime and traditional violent crime are all issues in Memphis.

“The leaders of the religious community can help us tremendously in getting our message out, if you have info, please filter that through religious leaders and contact the FBI so we can certainly look into how different things affect the community,” said Hess.

Harrison said it's important for everyone to get involved in the fight against crime, not just those in South Memphis, but throughout Shelby County.

“It's an old cliché, we may wall be in the same boat if springs a leak doesn't make a difference what boat it is, we all sink. We're all in the same boat, we need to fight this together,” said Harrison.

The law enforcement community has been meeting regularly with pastors, to talk about crime, for about 9 years now. Their next meeting is February 17th.