MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There’s another push to keep Shelby County safer — this time, by focusing on the court system.
Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright took to Facebook Monday, offering solutions to catch up on the 17,000 criminal cases awaiting trial in the county. He said enough is enough.
“I think the public needs to be aware that so little activity is happening in the criminal courts, and that’s having a direct impact on the crime that we’re seeing in our community,” he said.
With 17,000 criminal cases, ranging from theft to murder, awaiting trial in the system, we learned that only 40 of those cases were tried in 2023.
“I think because people who have been accused of violent crimes, their trials are not proceeding forward and are just being held back. I think we’re seeing a problem of reoffenders,” Wright said.
MPD identifies teens accused in Midtown car break-ins
According to CNN, Detroit faced a very similar problem and actively worked to clear a backlog of 4,000 felony gun cases. That resulted in an 18 percent reduction in homicides, the lowest in nearly 60 years.