MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One Memphis couple rounded up their community for a town hall meeting with Memphis Police Department (MPD) to talk about ways to reduce crime in their neighborhood after they noticed that their son was too afraid to play outside.
For Jose and Susana Acosta, crime has become a daily occurrence in their community.
“It’s not fair that we live in fear,” said Susana Acosta, “We want to be safe, and we want to enjoy our picnics in the parks and our children playing and riding bikes.”
On Sunday, May 28, MPD and Hispanic community members came together for a town hall at Restoration Tabernacle Church in Frayser. In a combined effort with MPD’s Tillman station, Spanish-speaking officers answered questions, and broke down language barriers.
Throughout the morning, MPD discussed trends in recent crime and worked to start a new neighborhood watch program.
One officer told ABC24 that the department also wants to host more town halls to encourage the Hispanic community to call MPD when they need help since there has been some hesitancy in the past.
“The fear of calling the police is mainly because of their legal status, which we don’t care about at all,” said Alfonso Perea, MPD Hispanic Liaison, “If they’re a victim of a crime, they’re a victim of a crime, we don’t care about their legal status, mainly because the fear of police also comes from the countries they come from, where they’re corrupt.”
Perea said MPD only has one Spanish-speaking dispatcher, however another Spanish-speaking dispatcher is in training.
MPD said it plans on hosting more town halls in Hispanic neighborhoods near the Ridgeway and Mt. Moriah area.