MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police headed to a Frayser apartment complex Thursday, not to solve a crime, but to raise goodwill in the community.
MPD officers and community partners held a gun violence awareness event at the Greenbriar Apartments. MPD said within a one-mile radius of the complex, data showed more than 800 reported crimes, including a deadly shooting of a woman and a teenage boy in March.
Officers reminded neighbors of the importance of properly and safely storing guns, and why their input is so critical in solving crimes and arresting violent offenders.
"We try to host events like this because when certain things like this happen, we can't be everywhere at once, so with things like this, we have more community members to come and let us know what they witnessed,” said Joseph Hibler with the Memphis Police Department. “Because the community, with us together, we can actually solve more crimes and get crimes to go down in the city of Memphis."
Other community events are being planned for other MPD precincts in the weeks ahead.