Violence Prevention in 

Memphis and Shelby County

Contents

Collaboration Overview ......................... 1

Collaboration Purpose........................... 2

About the Collaboration......................... 2

Collaboration Structure.......................... 3

Promising Practices............................... 6

Lessons Learned................................... 9

Accomplishments ................................ 10

Resources ........................................... 11

Collaboration Overview

The City of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, have 

developed three interwoven violence prevention initiatives—

Operation: Safe Community, the Memphis Youth Violence 

Prevention Plan, and the Defending Childhood Initiative.

Key components that support the structure of these initiatives

include: 

 Developing a strong, representative board of directors and 

diverse community partners to support implementation

 Involving an independent intermediary to coordinate plan 

implementation

 Establishing multiple layers of leadership to manage plan 

implementation

 Outlining clear strategies and objectives in a strategic plan to 

guide and structure implementation

 Integrating violence prevention and crime reduction 

approaches within policies to support buy-in and sustainability

 Limiting overhead costs to provide majority of funding to 

partners implementing the strategic plans

The best practices include: 

 Collaborating across initiatives in order to minimize 

duplication of effort and maximize results

 Involving the highest levels of government and law 

enforcement 

 Developing a message that connects violence prevention and 

economic growth

 Creating a unifying mission for collaborations and coalitions 

that were already in place

 Creating transparency and eliciting feedback from the 

community
 Developing data-driven initiatives by using data to develop strategic plans, share 

information with the public, and support implementation

 Coordinating with other initiatives to support sharing data across agencies

 Conducting both national and local evaluations

To work collaboratively and minimize violence, Memphis and Shelby County have discovered it 

is important to:

 Incorporate an additional layer of leadership to translate the board’s vision to ground-level 

implementation

 Utilize strategies to keep a large group of stakeholders continuously engaged

 Continuously inventory community assets

 Have a clear message about the coordinated initiatives to share with the public and 

stakeholders

Collaboration Purpose

The City of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, have developed three interwoven 

collaborative initiatives—Operation: Safe Community, the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention 

Plan, and the Defending Childhood Initiative—which focus on reducing crime, preventing youth 

violence, and minimizing violence experienced by children and youth, all with the goal of 

increasing the prosperity of their community and the quality of life of their residents.

About the Collaboration

Former Shelby County Mayor (and current City of Memphis Mayor) A. C. Wharton, Jr., former 

Memphis Mayor Dr. W. W. Herenton, Memphis Tomorrow (an association of chief executive 

officers of Memphis' largest enterprises), the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, and a 

diverse array of public and private partners began Memphis Fast Forward in 2005 as a plan to 

accelerate economic growth and improve quality of life in Memphis and Shelby County. 

Decreasing crime and violence was one of the key goals of that plan. From that initial 

groundwork, Memphis and Shelby County have taken a multipronged and overlapping 

approach to addressing violence within their community, including preventing youth violence, 

reducing crime, and minimizing the effects of children’s and youths’ exposure to violence. 

Three initiatives that resulted from this collaboration are Operation: Safe Community, the 

Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan, and the Defending Childhood Initiative.

Operation: Safe Community

Established in 2005, Operation: Safe Community is a collaborative five-year strategic initiative 

(2006–2011) focused on reducing crime and increasing public safety. The strategic plan is 

based on 15 research-based strategies and is coordinated by the Memphis Shelby Crime 

Commission (Crime Commission), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on bringing 

agencies together to focus on crime prevention using innovative methods. A second phase of 

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Operation: Safe Community is in development. This plan will go into effect in January 2012 

and span from 2012–2016.

Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan

The Crime Commission was selected by the City of Memphis to develop and support 

the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan (PDF, 149 pages). The Memphis Youth Violence 

Prevention Plan is an extension of the work done through Operation: Safe Community and 

makes up part of Phase II of Operation: Safe Community—2012–2016. The leadership 

involved in Operation: Safe Community recognized that, despite declines in crime in Memphis 

and Shelby County, data continued to show that a high proportion of violent crimes were being 

perpetuated by young people and that young people in Memphis and Shelby County continued 

to face multiple risk factors associated with youth violence. The Memphis Youth Violence 

Prevention Plan, finalized in April 2011, is focused on preventing youth violence, intervening 

with youth at high risk for offending, implementing enforcement strategies, and assisting youth 

returning from incarceration. The plan is also supported by technical assistance from the 

National Forum on Youth Violence and experts within multiple federal agencies, including the 

Departments of Justice, Education, Health and Human Services, Housing, and Labor. 

Defending Childhood Initiative (DCI)

DCI, funded by the Department of Justice, is a site-based initiative focused on addressing 

children’s exposure to violence as victims and witnesses. The goals of the initiative are to 

prevent exposure to violence, alleviate the negative impacts of exposure when it does occur,

and develop knowledge and spread awareness about this issue. In Memphis and Shelby 

County, DCI is coordinated by the Shelby County Office for Early Childhood and Youth.

The initial phase of Operation: Safe Community provided a strong foundation for the work 

being done through the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan and DCI. The Crime 

Commission and the Shelby County Office for Early Childhood and Youth work closely to 

ensure coordination and minimize any duplication of effort among the three initiatives. Both the 

Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan and the DCI will be incorporated into the second 

phase of the Operation: Safe Community plan, allowing for continued coordination and 

collaboration around these initiatives.

Collaboration Structure

Operation: Safe Communities, the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan, and the 

Defending Childhood Initiative (DCI) have distinct structures but also many similarities. Most 

importantly, all three initiatives were designed to be multifaceted and collaborative entities that 

bring a diverse group of stakeholders together to support their purpose. Some of the key 

elements within their structures are:

Developing a strong, representative board of directors and diverse 

community partners to support implementation

 The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission (Crime Commission) includes a 50-member 

board of directors representing public and private community leaders. This includes 

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representatives of law enforcement, businesses, schools, local and state government, 

nonprofit organizations, university faculty, and more. View a full list of the board of 

director’s members. This board of directors supports the work of Operation: Safe 

Community, the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan, and DCI. 

 Memphis Fast Forward provided the catalyst to bring together initial leadership and support 

on the board of directors. Additional partners were recruited and targeted based on their 

expertise.

 As the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan was developed, it became apparent that 

there was a need to expand the group of stakeholders to support this work. To meet the 

need, the group was expanded to 75 people.

 Expanding the scope of the board to embrace oversight and governance of DCI helped to 

limit the challenge and redundancy of trying to bring the same people together multiple 

times for multiple grants and initiatives focused on a similar topic.

 In addition to the board of directors, the Crime Commission partners with neighborhood 

associations, businesses, faith-based organizations, social service agencies, and 

universities to develop strategies to support the five-year plan and clearly identify objectives 

and expectations for each strategy within the Operation: Safe Community plan. View a list 

of their Community Partners. As the plan has been implemented, new partners have been 

recruited to support the evolving work. The community was also instrumental in supporting 

the development of the Youth Violence Prevention Plan.

 DCI partners with a number of service providers in the Memphis and Shelby County to 

support their work. Their partners include: Family Safety Center, Child Advocacy Center, 

Juvenile Court, Exchange Club Family Center, Agape Child & Family Services/Powerline 

Community Network, Victims to Victory, University of Memphis School of Social Work, Le 

Bonheur Center for Children and Parents, Memphis Area Women’s Council/Erase 

Domestic Violence Collaborative, and Southeast Memphis CDC.

Involving an independent intermediary to coordinate plan implementation

Staff members from the Crime Commission act as intermediaries to coordinate and oversee 

the implementation of the Operation: Safe Community strategic plan and the Memphis Youth 

Violence Prevention Plan. While not an outside intermediary, the Shelby County Office for 

Early Childhood and Youth has a similar role of coordination for DCI.

Establishing multiple layers of leadership to manage plan implementation 

The work being accomplished through the three initiatives takes coordination and multiple 

layers of leadership and organization. The board of directors provides the overarching 

leadership for all of the initiatives. The board has a president who oversees the work of the 

board as a whole. Specific to the effort of Operation: Safe Community, and separate from the 

board president, there is a chair of Operation: Safe Community strategies. This chair provides 

oversight for the 15 strategies outlined in the plan. Within each of the strategies, there are one 

to two strategy leaders or chairs who coordinate the objectives outlined within the strategy and 

the effort to accomplish the work. These leaders report their work to the board of directors.

Subcommittees or task groups have also been utilized based on the complexity of the work 

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being done to support the strategies. Similarly, the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan is 

structured with core teams based on the strategies outlined in the plan. As the plan is in its 

initial stages, work is currently being done to populate these teams and their leadership. The 

leaders of these teams will also report their work to the board of directors. Rather than utilizing 

strategic teams, the work of DCI is structured under a steering committee, which coordinates 

its efforts and reports its work to the board of directors.

Outlining clear strategies and objectives in a strategic plan to guide and 

structure implementation

While the strategic plans are structured differently for each of the initiatives, they were all 

developed with clear and measurable objectives. The strategic plans establish the structure 

and accountability for the initiative.

 Operation: Safe Community is based on 15 research-based strategies categorized under 

smart policing, aggressive prosecution, and law enforcement/community partnership.

 The Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan is based on the Office of Juvenile Justice 

and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) model, which includes a prevention goal, an 

intervention goal, an enforcement goal, and a reentry goal. Each of these goals is 

supported by specific strategies and action items. Each plan also outlines an 

implementation approach. The plan has been updated over time and an updated version 

was released in 2012. The updated Operation: Safe Communities plan (PDF, 149 pages) 

spans from 2012–2016.

 DCI is a place-based model that includes multiple layers of support (universal prevention, 

targeted outreach and support, and intensive interventions). The plan is based on four 

overarching goals. Similar to the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan, each of the 

goals is supported by three to four strategies.

For both Operation: Safe Community and the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan, the 

strategies were used to create a structure of separate core teams that work to address each 

strategy and report to the board of directors on their work. These teams are led by one to two 

strategy leaders.

Integrating violence prevention and crime reduction approaches within 

policies to support buy-in and sustainability

The Crime Commission has worked with policymakers and government representatives to see 

how pieces of the Operation: Safe Community strategic plan can be integrated into ongoing 

work in the different bureaus of government. For example, they discussed how parks and 

recreation can support ongoing efforts to prevent crime based on their resources and the 

capacity that they have to deliver necessary services to the community. Creating these 

connections and showing how crime prevention can be integrated into the work of government 

agencies ensures more long-term programming rather than grant-based work that often has a 

time limit attached.

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Limiting overhead costs to provide majority of funding to partners 

implementing the strategic plans 

While the funding sources and program coordination for the initiatives are different, all are 

focused on limiting overhead costs. These are costs associated with managing the work and 

acting as a go-between to target funds to partners at the community level that are working to 

implement the strategic plans. For example:

 The Crime Commission and its work on Operation: Safe Community is mainly funded 

through the private sector. Its focus is on using funding to convene others and leverage 

existing dollars within the community or to apply for and attract additional funds to the 

community so that they can carry out the implementation of the strategies outlined within 

the plan. Foundation funding and grants have been secured to help support implementation 

of the strategies. The Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan is not funded currently, 

though it was developed based on some existing resources. The Crime Commission is 

currently working to bring stakeholders together to identify, reallocate, and leverage 

resources to implement the plan.

 Most of the funding for DCI, which is funded through a grant from the Department of 

Justice, is allocated by the Shelby County Early Childhood and Youth office to the 

community level partners providing services.

Promising Practices

The following practices have helped Memphis and Shelby County promote collaborative 

violence prevention efforts.

Collaborating across initiatives in order to minimize duplication of effort 

and maximize results

Operation: Safe Community laid a foundation that both the Memphis Youth Violence 

Prevention Plan and the Defending Childhood Initiative (DCI) have been able to grow from. 

They have been able to utilize the relationships and trust that had been built through the work 

of Operation: Safe Community and align aspects of implementation where feasible. For 

example, the initiatives were able to support:

 Shared leadership. As mentioned in the collaboration structure, there is overlap in the 

leadership of all three initiatives. The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission (Crime 

Commission) board of directors oversees all three initiatives. By utilizing the same group of 

people to support all three initiatives, they are able to minimize the burden on their 

leadership and limit redundancy.

 Shared data and crime trend analysis. In addition to their leadership, all three initiatives 

have relied on a partnership with the University of Memphis’s Center for Community 

Criminology and Research (C3R) to provide crime trend analysis, research, federal grant 

writing, and management. The data analysis provided through the university has allowed 

the initiatives to develop their strategic plans and monitor their progress.

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 Shared targeted sites. DCI was able to establish its place-based initiative in areas that 

had previously been supported by the work that the Crime Commission had done through 

Operation: Safe Community. Because of the transparency of the work that Operation: Safe 

Community had done, DCI was able to use information, data, relationships, and programs 

that were already underway as it aimed to expand the work to encompass combating 

exposure to violence for children and youth.

Involving the highest levels of government and law enforcement 

Through their coordinated leadership, all three initiatives have been able to involve high levels 

of government and law enforcement. This includes the mayors of Shelby County and the City 

of Memphis, U.S. attorneys, the director of the Memphis Police Department, the 

superintendent of Shelby County Schools, and more. The bipartisan leadership support has 

lent credibility to the work and has been instrumental in attracting additional partners.

Developing a message that connects violence prevention and economic 

growth 

By shaping the message of violence prevention in economic terms, Memphis and Shelby 

County were able to engage and recruit business and economic development leaders who

might not previously have seen how they were involved in violence prevention and crime 

reduction.

Creating a unifying mission for collaborations and coalitions that were 

already in place

Prior to the beginning of Operation: Safe Community and the work of the Crime Commission, 

there were already a number of collaborations and coalitions that were taking place in 

Memphis. By bringing together these groups under a common mission, the Crime Commission 

was able to utilize the strengths of these collaborative relationships that had already been 

established.

Creating transparency and eliciting feedback from the community 

The collaborations have recognized the importance of making their work transparent and 

accessible to the community and other agencies in order to attract new partners and ensure 

that the community feels ownership for the work that is being done. All three have worked 

carefully to develop strategic plans that provide clear goals and metrics, are supported by data, 

include evidence-based practices, include accountability measures, and were supported by 

community feedback.

The Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan provides a good example of a diverse range of 

methods used to get representative community feedback before and during plan development. 

These include the following:

 Listening sessions with community members and youth prior to plan development. The 

listening sessions attracted 351 community members, including over 100 youth.

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 A community-visioning survey was conducted with community members, attracting 394 

respondents.

 A practitioner-focused survey was targeted at a diverse group of 28 agencies to determine 

agency philosophy and practice relating to youth violence prevention.

 A minister-focused discussion session, with 40 ministers across various denominations, 

focused on youth violence prevention.

 Review of initial drafts of the plan by two groups of youth. One group of youth represented 

youth leaders from the Youth United Way, and the other former and current gang members.

Developing data-driven initiatives by using data to develop strategic plans, 

share information with the public, and support implementation

All three plans are data-driven. They have or plan to use data to support the planning process 

and to hold implementation efforts accountable.

The partnership with the University of Memphis’s Center for Community Criminology and 

Research (C3R) has provided data analysis and research support across the initiatives. Data 

has been used to illustrate the need for violence prevention efforts, understand risk factors and 

areas of exposure, identify community sites to target work, monitor implementation, show 

accountability, and illustrate accomplishments to partners and community members. For 

example:

DCI used data and its partnership with the University of Memphis’s Center for Community 

Building and Neighborhood Action (CBANA) to conduct a needs assessment in order to

 Define the scope of the problem of children’s exposure to violence in Memphis and Shelby 

County

 Identify geographic concentrations of exposure

 Document risk factors and their geographic location to better understand the challenges to 

reducing, mitigating, and preventing children’s exposure to violence (and to inform the 

choice of a place-based demonstration)

 Identify assets that might be mobilized to reduce, mitigate, and prevent children’s exposure 

to violence, especially in high-risk areas through a place-based demonstration

 Identify overall gaps in “the system” and the “pipeline” from exposure to accessing and 

sustaining supportive interventions

Coordinating with other initiatives to support data-sharing across agencies 

Data-sharing across agencies as a method for evaluation is a key long-term goal of DCI. As 

DCI collects information about data-sharing from the Department of Justice and other sources, 

it is also working with a grant on teen parenting that has pledged to pay for the first platform of 

data sharing. The goal is to have a data-sharing system that extends beyond preventing teen 

pregnancy to also include limiting exposure to violence.

Operation: Safe Community has had experience with sharing data through a gang prevention 

pilot program based on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) 

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comprehensive gang model it has implemented for the past two years. Within that model, a 

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) based on the template from OJJDP has been used for the 

sharing of data between law enforcement, schools, youth services, and the courts.

As the data system is rolled out, the intent is to use a similar MOA template for the DCI work. 

The hope is that the successful history and example of the MOA being used for sharing data 

between agencies will ensure that partners are more comfortable with the idea of data sharing.

Conducting both national and local evaluations 

Both DCI and the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan are conducting local process 

evaluations to assess their work, as well as national evaluations through the Department of 

Justice. The DCI plan will be evaluated at the national level through the Center for Court 

Innovations. DCI also wrote into its grant a local evaluation in order to ensure it is prepared for 

the national evaluation. The Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan has a similar 

multileveled structure for evaluation. At the national level, it is being evaluated through Jay 

University, which is providing ongoing evaluation and feedback to all National Youth Violence 

Prevention Forum member cities. At the local level, the Crime Commission is working through 

a university research partnership each year to identify the strategies, including youth violence 

prevention, that need the most support.

Lessons Learned

Memphis and Shelby County has learned the following lessons through the collaborative work 

they have done to prevent violence.

An additional layer of leadership is necessary to translate the board's 

vision to ground-level implementation

When Operation: Safe Community was first developed and implemented, there was a belief 

that the board of directors and a couple of key individuals would be able to implement the plan. 

In reality they found, within the first two years, that an additional layer of strategy leaders were 

needed to help implement each of the strategies. For each strategy, one or two strategy 

leaders were identified. These strategy leaders help to ensure open communication between 

what is being done at the ground level and the board of directors. Once strategy leaders were 

established, there was an effort to ensure that they sat on the board, which helped to expand 

the board’s representation.

While engaging a range of stakeholders is good, it can be difficult to keep a 

large group continuously engaged

 Recognize that all members will not be equally engaged. The Memphis Shelby Crime 

Commission (Crime Commission) realized that engaging a large number of stakeholders 

can be difficult. For the work around the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan, they 

have 75 stakeholders involved. In working with such a large group, they found it was 

important to recognize that everyone may not be involved at the same level or have the 

same level of commitment.

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 Share data and accomplishments to help sustain and engage partners. The Crime 

Commission engages and sustains the large number of stakeholders they work with by 

sharing data with the community and partners. This illustrates the work that is being done 

and the accomplishments that are being made, helps to foster pride for those involved in 

the effort, and enhances community awareness and engagement.

 Break the large group into smaller targeted teams. To implement the strategies within 

Operation: Safe Community, strategic teams were developed with relevant partners. These 

teams work on one specific strategy and are led by one or two strategy leaders. Their work 

is then shared with the larger group through the oversight of the board of directors. 

Breaking the large group into targeted teams helps them to get things accomplished and 

maintain engagement.

It is important to continuously conduct an inventory of community assets 

Conducting an inventory of the community allows you to identify and understand what 

resources the community has, what coalitions and collaboratives currently exist, and what 

activities are currently available. There is often a wealth of resources that already exist that 

can be used to support your effort; the challenge is bringing those various resources at various 

levels together based on your need and purpose. While conducting an inventory of the 

community assets is important, it must be an ongoing process. Conducting an inventory once 

is not sufficient, due to leadership turnover and program changes. Having a deliberate effort to 

keep information current allows you to engage people quickly when changes occur.

When conducting coordinated initiatives, it is important to have a clear 

message to share with the public and stakeholders

While coordinating and collaborating across the different initiatives can be beneficial, it can be 

difficult for the public and stakeholders to understand and parse out the different initiatives. It is 

therefore imperative for those working with the different plans to have a clear explanation of 

the plans, how they work together, and how they are unique. The quantity of information and 

timing can also cause challenges. In the spring of 2011, both the Youth Violence Prevention 

Plan (released April 4, 2011) and the DCI plan (released May 1, 2011) were released. Having 

both plans released in a short period of time seemed to cause information overload.

Accomplishments1

Memphis has moved itself off the top of the list of cities with the highest crime rate and 

improved its climate for economic growth. 

 From January 1 to July 31, 2011, major violent crime (i.e., murder, forcible rape, 

aggravated assault, and robbery) in Memphis has decreased 26.9 percent when compared 

to the same time period in 2006.

1 Accomplishments reflect outcomes of Operation Safe Community. Both the Defending Childhood Initiative and 

Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan are in early stages of implementation.

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 Major property crime in Memphis also declined over the past five years, down 

32.4 percent across the city when compared to the first seven months of 2006.

 From January 1 to July 31, 2011, major violent crime was down 26.8 percent, including a 

drop in robbery by 45.3 percent and a drop in aggravated assault by 16.9 percent across all 

jurisdictions of Shelby County, when compared to the same time period in 2006.

 Major property crime has decreased by 32.4 percent with a 28.4 percent drop in burglaries 

and a 53.8 percent decline in motor vehicle theft throughout the county, when compared to 

the same time period in 2006 (The University of Memphis & Memphis Shelby Crime 

Commission, 2011).

Resources 

Learn more about the work that Memphis and Shelby county are doing: 

See the overarching work of Memphis Fast Forward.

Learn more at the Memphis Crime Commission website:

 Read the Operation: Safe Community plan (PDF, 149 pages)

 Read the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan (PDF, 55 pages)

 See recent data and outcomes related to Operation: Safe Community

Learn more about the Defending Childhood Initiative website:

 View the Department of Justice’s Defending Childhood website.

Learn more about the National Forum on Youth Violence:

 See how the federal government is collaborating around youth violence prevention 

 See other communities’ violence prevention plans

 Learn how to make a violence prevention plan for your community

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