Suburban leaders: Safe Task Force could help uplift region

Corey Davis

Memphis Commercial Appeal USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE

“We’re all in this together.”

That’s what Collierville Mayor Maureen Fraser said in a statement to The Commercial Appeal when asked about the National Guard and other federal agencies’ presence in Memphis.

It’s a theme echoed by other officials across the Shelby County suburbs. They share a hope that the Memphis Safe Task Force can make a positive impact in the Bluff City, ultimately lifting up the entire region.

“We need our entire community to be safe, so we all can thrive and be successful,” Fraser said. “We need each other. Many residents of Collierville work in Memphis. I sincerely hope all agencies will work together to make our region safe.”

‘It will benefit us all as a region’

Kevin Quinn is currently serving his second fouryear term on the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Quinn has lived in Shelby County for 35 years including 20 years in Bartlett, which has a population of nearly 60,000 and is the largest suburb.

Quinn noted that even before the arrival of the Memphis Safe Task Force that additional law enforcement personnel had been doing work in the area and making a noticeable difference.

“We just need to get a crackdown on this and help Memphis get out of this problem with crime because it will benefit us all as a region,” he said. “We’re struggling together as a region. We cannot separate ourselves.

“People look at us nationally and statewide, whether they’re talking about West Tennessee and Shelby County, they look at all of us as Memphis. Some people don’t know the difference between Bartlett, Collierville and Memphis. We’re just all in the same Memphis metro area, and we have the same struggles and same crime effects. It would behoove us all to fix this.”

Quinn noted suburban residents’ taxes help fund the Shelby County jail and that the suburbs dedicate million to their police forces to combat crime.

“It is in our best interest to support the efforts of a crime reduction in Memphis,” he said. “And I always say that I want a family in South Memphis to feel as safe sitting on their front porch as a family in Bartlett does because until that day comes none of us are really safe.”

‘Opportunity for everybody to work together’

Tony Salvaggio is serving his first term on the Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Germantown, with a population of more than 41,000, is located in southeastern Shelby County and bordered by Memphis on three sides. He said having the National Guard and other agencies in the city will hopefully help aid the Memphis Police Department’s efforts to reduce violent crime.

“The problems in Memphis have been around for decades,” he said. “There’s no silver bullet that comes in and just fixes it overnight. ... We can’t sit back as a municipality and say, ‘Well the National Guard isn’t going to Germantown because we’re safe.’ It will most likely have a good impact on Memphis with the National Guard if everybody can work together.”

While some may view sending the National Guard and federal agencies to Memphis as a political play, Salvaggio hopes this initiative will make a difference.

“If you look at the National Guard coming in and say they shouldn’t be here and this is a political move, then you can look it at that way,” he said. “However, you can look at it as an opportunity for everybody to work together, and that’s how you get things resolved.”

‘Memphis, like all cities, has this challenge’

The Shelby County Chamber Alliance is a collection of suburban chambers of commerce from across the county including in Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland and Millington. Harold Byrd is the president of the Shelby County Chamber Alliance. He is also co-founder, vice chairman and president of the Bank of Bartlett.

Byrd said statistical data show crime has gone down in Memphis, noting the Bluff City isn’t alone as most big cities deal with crime challenges. He said he and other alliance members hope “that something good” will come out of the National Guard and federal agencies’ presence in Memphis.

“We say, yes, we have a crime problem and we have addressed it,” Byrd said. “We see crime coming down, but we will welcome the help of the National Guard and the placement of their troops that will be here on the short run. But Memphis, like all cities, has this challenge.”

Even with the challenges of crime in Memphis over the past few years, Byrd said the Bluff City area and Western Tennessee have seen several economic development wins with a flurry of significant projects happening or in the works.

He said those include Elon Musk’s xAI data centers in Memphis and Amplify Cell Technologies’ planned $1.9 billion electric vehicle plant in nearby Marshall County, Mississippi, that is expected to add 2,000 manufacturing jobs and begin operations in 2027, as well as Ford’s $5.6 billion BlueOval City project in Stanton that is expected to create roughly 6,000 direct jobs through the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center and BlueOval SK battery plant.

In addition, Byrd cited suburban mixed-use projects like the $200 million Union Depot in Bartlett, $90 million Providence Place in Arlington, The Standard Germantown and the Water Tower District at Schilling Farms in Collierville, as well as other numerous housing developments and restaurants that have opened or in the works around the suburbs and Memphis area.

“The alliance and I think the mayors in each of those respective cities feel like economic development is in a positive state,” Byrd said. “The only thing right now that is curtailing it is maybe a little bit of economic uncertainty going on. But overall, economic development is positive. ... However, we all want the same thing, which is safe communities, the best schools and the best police and fire services in order to raise our children and take care of our senior citizens.”

Bartlett Mayor David Parsons echoed that sentiment in this statement: “As Mayor, my focus is the safety and well-being of our residents and the region. We are all in this together, and our hope is that local, state, and federal agencies continue working constructively to keep our communities safe. If Memphis wins, we all win — and I remain committed to supporting efforts that protect our shared future.”

‘Keep the momentum going’

Bartlett Alderman Quinn said Memphis has a lot going for it.

“Not only the great people that are here, but the location in terms of rail, water, air and highways,” he said. “But the negativity around the crime is the most detrimental thing we have to this area and to our future…. That’s why I’m glad we’re finally doing something or making a concerted effort, even though it could be short term.

“But hopefully this will make the impact to take some bad people off the streets that are doing the majority of crimes and that this may give us a little breathing room for us to figure out how we can grow our own efforts here to keep the momentum going as far as safety and security goes.”

Germantown Alderman Salvaggio also noted that Memphis has amazing assets including being the headquarters of major corporations such as FedEx and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“From a business and community standpoint, it’s important that we recognize how fortunate we are to be located in such an incredible region in the country with good people, philanthropic people as well as some of the best and giving people in the world live in Memphis,” Salvaggio said.

He said it’s critical that the municipalities continue to work hard with Memphis to help support the city.

“Sometimes what is overlooked in Shelby County is we’ve got really strong municipalities with really good leadership and, if the municipalities can continue to work and band together to keep the municipalities strong, that’s going to have influence on Memphis and Shelby County as a whole. Our municipalities in Memphis and Shelby County, we can’t work like we are on an island of our own. We’ve all got to work together to make the entire community better.”

Corey Davis is the Collierville and Germantown reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Corey.Davis@commercialappeal.com or 901-2931610.