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Is enough being done to keep folks safe on Beale?

Beyond extended wanding until 3 a.m. and a $5 security fee this upcoming weekend, in the future, other measures are being considered.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The family of Tacquan Smith, the Memphis father of five who died on Beale Street this past weekend, is asking a question a lot of us are asking: "Is enough being done to keep residents and tourists safe, especially during all business hours and Grizzlies fans leaving FedExForum?"

It's one of the most visited places in the country, but it's had its fair share of issues. The Downtown Memphis Commission said they are implementing more security measures.

“The incident that took place last week was brazen,” said Downtown Memphis Commission President Paul Young. “MPD was right there so those were individuals who just didn’t really care about law enforcement being present.”

Young is speaking of the shooting on Beale Street in front of the Green Room that left one man dead and two others injured. 

Memphis police said two groups started shooting at one another. Meanwhile, an officer, though uninjured, was caught in the crossfire.

“We weekly evaluate to determine the likelihood of increased crowd size, which obviously, increases the likelihood of a stampede or other negative activity taking place,” explained Young.  

Beyond extended wanding until 3 a.m. and a $5 security fee this upcoming weekend, in the future, Young said other measures are being weighed.

“We’re also exploring how to increase lighting on Beale Street,” said Young. “Sometimes if you can increase the lighting you can decrease the likelihood of negative activity.”

We also asked Young about a tactic used by criminals.

"Do you know how people are getting weapons onto Beale?” ABC24's Rebecca Butcher asked.

“We know in previous years there were spaces where you could pass things through gates,” said Young. “We’ve updated gates around Handy Park, so that’s no longer possible. We obviously make sure that we look for any weak points and we make sure that we place security in those locations to prevent those people from being able to get those things onto the street.”

The DMC said in the past year since Young has been with the organization, they haven't been seeing much of weapons being snuck onto Beale.

We spoke with a longtime Beale Street bar worker who wants to remain unnamed.

He said four years ago, cameras identified a woman who shot another near Beale. The gun she used was stashed in bushes at Handy Park.

That same Beale Street worker explained people used to slip weapons through bars of gates.

The Downtown Memphis Commission said they put up fences in October 2020 which are 8 feet high to prevent people from not only climbing over them, but also getting weapons through the bars and onto Beale.

Young also added security in the past is similar to security now.

“There are certainly cameras on Beale Street,” said Young. “Those cameras are connected to MPD so they have the ability to look back at that footage. We certainly have been talking about how we can increase camera coverage.”

The Downtown Memphis Commission said it also does routine visual sweeps daily of Beale Street to enforce safety.

ABC24 asked Memphis police if there's been a recent case of weapons being snuck onto Beale. We have yet to hear back.

    

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