Gangs in Memphis, Tennessee
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Memphis, Tennessee serves as the Southern headquarters for Tennessee based street organizations in the Southern United States. In 2021, there were approximately 102 gangs with 13,400 gang members in the city.{{cite web|url=http://www.wknofm.org/post/think-gangs-are-only-memphis-poorest-neighborhoods-think-again |title=Think Gangs Are Only In Memphis' Poorest Neighborhoods? Think Again |first=Candice |last=Ludlow |work=WKNO FM |date=November 2, 2011 |access-date=12 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723114749/http://wknofm.org/post/think-gangs-are-only-memphis-poorest-neighborhoods-think-again |archive-date=23 July 2013 |df= }}{{cite web|url=https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-works-local-law-enforcement-arrest-26-gang-members-memphis|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415070618/https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-works-local-law-enforcement-arrest-26-gang-members-memphis|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 April 2015|title=ICE works with local law enforcement to arrest 26 gang members in Memphis|website=Ice.gov|accessdate=31 December 2019}}
Gangs in the Memphis area are concentrated in high crime black neighborhoods like College Park, Hollywood, Hickory Hill, Parkway Village, Westwood, Raleigh, Frayser, Orange Mound, Whitehaven, Binghampton, Klondike and Smokey City; their presence is also felt in the suburbs of Tipton County, Tennessee.{{cite web|url=http://www.americanownews.com/story/22106585/gangs-suburbs |title=Gangs are making their way to the suburbs |work=America Now News |year=2013 |access-date=12 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602151306/http://www.americanownews.com/story/22106585/gangs-suburbs |archive-date=2 June 2013 |df= }}{{cite web |url= https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/mississippi-school-district-clarify-gang-policy-part-settlement-aclu-lawsuit |title=Mississippi School District To Clarify Gang Policy As Part Of Settlement Of ACLU Lawsuit |work=American Civil Liberties Union |date=February 9, 2011 |accessdate=12 August 2013}}
After a series of gang related robberies at Tom Lee Park on the river bluff in downtown Memphis, the Memphis Police Department said that "they often feel powerless to control these out-of-control teens."{{cite web |url= http://wreg.com/2013/04/23/police-say-teens-hard-to-control-in-mob-robberies/ |title=Police Say Teens Hard to Control In Mob Robberies |first=Sabrina |last=Hall |work=WREG.com |date=April 23, 2013 |accessdate=12 August 2013}} In May 2013, high school students warned Memphis City Schools against a proposed school merger of Booker T. Washington High School and Carver High school. "It's like putting the Crips and Bloods together in a national convention."{{cite web |url= http://www.localmemphis.com/news/local/story/Fear-of-Gang-Wars-if-Memphis-High-Schools-Merge/VdydCcnDBkS9Joqgj8ZOjg.cspx |title=Fear of Gang Wars if Memphis High Schools Merge |first=Jackie |last=Orozco |work=LocalMemphis |date=May 1, 2013 |accessdate=12 August 2013}}
In 2013, Memphis City Council and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton cut funding for Blue CRUSH, the gang division of the Memphis Police Department.{{cite web|url=http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2013/jan/10/blue-crush-cuts-point-to-larger-divide/ |title=Blue CRUSH Cuts Point to Larger Divide |first=Bill |last=Dries |work=Memphis Daily News |date=January 10, 2013 |access-date=12 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303074927/http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2013/jan/10/blue-crush-cuts-point-to-larger-divide/ |archive-date=3 March 2013 |df= }}
Sex trafficking
In 2013, the FBI arrested Gangster Disciples Folk Nation members{{cite web |url= http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/aug/13/prosecutors-female-defendant-bit-punched-and-at/ |title=Prosecutors: Female defendant bit, punched, scratched and spit at Memphis guards |first=Beth |last=Warren |work=Commercial Appeal |date=August 13, 2013 |accessdate=13 August 2013}} on charges of sex trafficking and forced child prostitution.{{cite web|url=http://wreg.com/2013/07/27/three-charged-with-forcing-child-into-prostitution/|title=Three Charged with Forcing Child into Prostitution|date=28 July 2013|website=Wreg.com|accessdate=24 August 2018}}
Neighborhoods
According to the Governor's Public Safety Forum on Tennessee Gangs, gangs operate in Memphis' rural communities like Millington, Mason, and, Northaven, and in low income neighborhoods of North Memphis, South Memphis, Raleigh, Frayser, Whitehaven, Binghampton, Orange Mound, Hickory Hill and Riverside.{{cite web|url=https://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/memphis-gang-problem/Content?oid=3749147|title=Memphis’ Gang Problem|first=Louis|last=Goggans|website=Memphis Flyer|accessdate=24 August 2018}}
Infamous Memphis gang activity
- Craig Petties, half-brother of DJ Paul, was on the U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list before being captured in 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/8bc3f60e76504ff0ac115609e078f603/TN--Drug-Trafficking-Memphis |title=Sentencing set for Craig Petties, head of Memphis-based drug gang with ties to Mexican cartel |work=Associated Press |date=July 25, 2013 |access-date=25 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908162747/http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/8bc3f60e76504ff0ac115609e078f603/TN--Drug-Trafficking-Memphis |archive-date=8 September 2013 |df= }} He was a member of the Gangster Disciples and allegedly the biggest drug dealer in the history of Memphis, getting drugs directly from Edgar Valdez Villarreal of the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel and funneling millions of dollars to the Black Mafia Family.{{cite web |url= http://allhiphop.com/2012/02/23/dj-pauls-half-brother-craig-petties-linked-to-bmf/|title=DJ Paul’s Half Brother Craig Petties Linked To BMF|first=Grandmaster|last=Grouchy Greg|work=All HipHop News |date=February 23, 2012 |accessdate=February 23, 2012}} In 2011, Petties pleaded guilty to 23 counts of violent crime and racketeering after working with the Sinaloa Cartel to build a drug trafficking empire in five states.{{cite web|url=http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2012/02/cousins-on-trial-in-memphis-as-hit-men.html|title=Cousins on trial in Memphis as hit men for Sinaloa Cartel and Craig Petties|website=Borderlandbeat.com|accessdate=24 August 2018}}{{cite web |url= http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jun/27/blood-trade-craig-petties-drug-business-memphis/|title=Blood Trade: The Story of Craig Petties |first=Daniel|last=Connolly|work=Commercial Appeal |date=June 27, 2010 |accessdate=27 June 2010}}
- In the 2008 Lester Street murders, a gruesome mass murder in Binghampton, Memphis, Jessie Dotson, a member of the Crips, killed his brother, Cecil Dotson, a member of the Gangster Disciples and his family.{{cite web|url=http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/sites/default/files/dotsonjessieopn.pdf|title=TN Court of Appeals|website=Tsc.state.tn.us|accessdate=24 August 2018}}
- In 2010, Lorenzen Wright, a Memphis basketball star with a connection to drug kingpin Craig Petties, was found dead after being shot multiple times.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/6797597/lorenzen-wright-death-remains-mystery|title=Ex-NBA player Wright's death remains mystery|website=Espn.go.com|access-date=24 August 2018}}
- In February 2013, the Grape Street Crips announced their partnership with Bradley Jenkins, the Imperial Wizard of the United Klan of America, a branch of the Ku Klux Klan in Atlanta, to protest in a planned rally in Memphis.{{cite web |url= http://www.localmemphis.com/news/local/story/Gang-Member-Teams-with-Klansman-to-Protest/cryOi-3R6EOuCwD2mcu4Iw.cspx |title=Gang Member Teams with Klansman to Protest Memphis KKK Rally |first=Marcus |last=Holliday |work=LocalMemphis |date=February 25, 2013 |accessdate=12 August 2013}}
- In 2014, a mob of 100 to 125 teenagers attacked people at random in a Kroger parking lot during a knockout game-style challenge.{{cite web|url=http://uptownmagazine.com/2014/09/mob-of-teens-knockouts-three-in-kroger-parking-lot/|title=Mob of Teens Knockouts Three In Kroger Parking Lot|website=Uptownmagazine.com|accessdate=24 August 2018}} They shouted "Fam Mob," the name of a Memphis-based gang.{{cite web|url=http://www.memphisflyer.com/NewsBlog/archives/2014/09/07/three-people-beaten-by-mob-of-teens-in-kroger-parking-lot|title=Three People Beaten by Mob of Teens in Kroger Parking Lot|first=Louis|last=Goggans|website=Memphisflyer.com|accessdate=24 August 2018}} The incident was captured on video that went viral. Eleven people were arrested. According to the police, it was "a flash mob that got out of control."
[http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/26477203/city-leaders-to-address-kroger-parking-lot-attack-2-pm 10 teens, 1 adult charged in brutal Kroger parking lot attack]
- In 2015, the cousin of Shelby County Sheriff Bill Oldham was targeted in a robbery/homicide after a drug deal gone wrong. On May 29, 2015, a group of Gangster Disciples murdered a recent graduate of Memphis University School. During this time, an over two-year undercover operation by a multi-unit task force was taking place under the name of Operation 38 Special. The multi-state operation was brought to a close on May 4, 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/forty-eight-alleged-members-gangster-disciples-indicted-federal-racketeering-charges|title=Forty-Eight Alleged Members of Gangster Disciples Indicted on Federal Racketeering Charges|date=4 May 2016|website=Justice.gov|accessdate=24 August 2018}}
In mainstream culture
Music styles that originated from Memphis gangsta rap culture include Young Dolph, Moneybagg Yo, Pooh Shiesty, Big30, Southern hip hop and crunk, made famous by 8 Ball & MJG, Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat, and Hypnotize Minds. In the 2000s, the music genre gained acceptance after winning an Academy Award for the song "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" from Hustle & Flow.