Opinion: Now is not the time to let up on gun crime
“Frankly, we have a long way to go to be as safe as we need to be.”
Bill Gibbons
There are 22 articles by Bill Gibbons :
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September 2026
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Guest Columnists
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August 2026
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Guest Columnists Opinion: Tackling domestic violence, the hidden part of violent crime
“Addressing the domestic violence part of our violent crime challenge must involve providing more support for domestic violence victims, more accountability for the perpetrators and efforts to change behavior.”
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March 2026
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Opinion Opinion: Survey shows support for local police — and for hiring more of them
“With strong overall positive feelings about local police coupled with a very strong desire for more officers, we need a major effort to recruit and retain people of good character and a sense of public service to be in local law enforcement.”
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January 2026
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Guest Columnists Opinion: We need to address criminal forensic priorities
“Investigations and prosecutions can take far too long as forensic test results are pending. But implementing a series of key additions to local forensic capabilities can make the justice system move faster and more efficiently.”
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April 2025
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Guest Columnists Opinion: Data is key to improving the criminal justice system
“There is bipartisan support for greater concerted efforts to leverage data from across the criminal justice system to improve effectiveness, evidence-based decision making, and transparency.”
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February 2025
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Guest Columnists Guest Column: Curb gun crime by focusing on aggravated assault
“By reducing the number of aggravated assaults, we can make a real dent in the number of victims of violent crime and reduce our violent crime rate even more.”
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November 2024
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Opinion Opinion: Crime Commission to host public-safety forum
The forum will address juvenile crime, bail, truancy and other factors with speakers including representatives from the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, General Sessions Court and the school system.
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June 2024
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Guest Columnists Guest Column: What is the Walk Against Gun Violence?
“We must send a message that gun violence is unacceptable behavior! Most residents of our community are fed up with the unacceptable level of gun violence. As a community, we must take a public stand.”
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March 2024
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Guest Columnists Gibbons: Tackle crime by fixing what’s broken
The president of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission says we need to change the juvenile justice system’s arbitrary 19th birthday cutoff and use public safety as the overriding factor in bail decisions.
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February 2024
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Guest Columnists Opinion: There are proven efforts that will reduce crime
“The climate is ripe for what new Memphis Mayor Paul Young has called a pandemic-type response to public safety. Many other cities are being cited as ‘models’ for what can be done, and all have merit.”
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November 2023
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Guest Columnists Opinion: Public safety is a key to Downtown’s future
“The key to maintaining and building on Downtown Memphis’ momentum is to get a handle on the reality and perception of public safety concerns and to do so with a healthy sense of urgency.”
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July 2023
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Guest Columnists Opinion: The General Assembly needs a sense of urgency to address gun violence
In advance of the legislature’s special session, the former Shelby County District Attorney and head of Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security argues for a series of changes to the state’s gun laws.
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June 2023
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Guest Columnists Opinion: In setting bail, follow the law and be transparent
“Different parts of the criminal justice system tend to operate in silos, and so an easily accessible, easy to understand, transparent reporting system will require the cooperation of many different parties. The public deserves it.”
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September 2022
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Guest Columnists Opinion: We need to fix our broken state criminal justice system
State government must not fail to fulfill the basic function of providing peace and safety to the people. We must fix what’s broken in our state criminal justice system - because we can do better than this.
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August 2022
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Guest Columnists Opinion: We need a third option for handling violent juveniles
A new sentencing system should emphasize enhanced services and appropriate treatment designed to reduce the likelihood of a juvenile becoming a repeat offender.
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July 2022
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Guest Columnists Opinion: How and why some juveniles are transferred to adult court
Former district attorney explains the laws, guidelines and considerations that officials make when assessing juveniles accused of violent crime.
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June 2022
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Guest Columnists Guest column: We need a sense of urgency to curb gun violence
“There is no one easy, quick answer to the challenge of gun violence, but there are some common sense steps that could make a significant dent.”
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February 2022
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Guest Columnists Guest Column: Police residency issue is the key to recruitment, retention
Opinion: Loosening the residency requirement for both the Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is not the sole answer to the law enforcement shortage, but it is a needed and effective tool in recruitment and retention efforts.
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August 2020
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Guest Columnists How many more MPD officers do we need, and how do we get them?
Loosening the residency requirement would make it easier for Memphis to create racial diversity in the ranks of MPD with smart, targeted recruiting. But in a perplexing vote, the Memphis City Council decided to remove the residency referendum from the Nov. 3 ballot.
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July 2020
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Guest Columnists Opinion: How to make Memphis safer from gun violence
In “Bleeding Out,” a senior research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, writes that "nothing works as well to reduce urban violence as focused deterrence.”
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November 2019
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Guest Columnists Curbing the gang violence ‘epidemic’ is Memphis’ priority
The Kelly Report submitted to the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission recommends expanding the Multi-Agency Gang Unit and ramping up data-driven policing to address gang violence.
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November 2018
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Guest Columnists Why do we need to reduce crime and how do we do it?
Downtown development is booming, with new announcements occurring, it seems, almost daily.
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