Image Credit: DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
A Mississippi county district attorney is tackling crime committed in DeSoto County by telling criminals coming from Memphis to go home.
On Wednesday, DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton announced the launch of an ad campaign targeting Memphis criminals. The ads will be posted on billboards on I-55 and other popular areas featuring the message “TURN BACK NOW” in large letters.
Along with billboards, the message will also be featured on digital displays throughout the county and some online platforms. The district attorney’s office will also enlist the use of text messaging, digital advertising tools, and hyper-targeted social media in the hopes of reaching those most likely to travel to DeSoto County with nefarious intent.
The effort is being fully funded by the District Attorney’s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) sparing taxpayers the expense of the campaign. The AFU will use funds seized from criminal activity. Essentially, Memphis criminals will be financing the very warnings designed to keep them from entering Mississippi.
According to Barton, more than 30 percent of felonies in the county are committed by criminals from Memphis.
A news release from Barton’s office reported that a significant number of these individuals travel to Mississippi to commit both residential and commercial crimes.
Barton said that Memphis criminals are “accustomed to the soft-on-crime policies” in neighboring Shelby County but warned that any criminal considering visiting his county to break the law would face jail time.
“These billboards and ads will hopefully be a much-needed geography lesson for Memphis criminals who use our border to their advantage,” said Barton. “Our neighboring judicial system may go easy on crime, but we do not here – so become familiar with our state lines.”
On the Tennessee side, Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis-District 31) would agree with Barton’s assessment of how Shelby County has handled criminals.
Taylor filed a resolution at the beginning of the year that would appoint a committee to authorize the Speakers of the House and Senate to appoint their own committee who would consider the removal of Shelby County District Attorney Steven J. Mulroy.
Taylor has been pressing for accountability from Mulroy for some time, stating that he is “weak” on crime and criticizing his willingness to work with liberal justice reform groups to allow criminals to remain free through the elimination of bail.
In the resolution, Taylor stated that Mulroy had committed “serious ethical violations” while abusing his authority by “pursuing a personal and partisan agenda in violation of State law and his oath of office.”
Taylor also filed several ethics complaints against Mulroy with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee but the filings were ultimately dismissed by the Board for what they called a lack of merit.
More recently, with the Memphis Safe Task Force now involved in the city, and its success in taking criminals off the streets, Taylor has announced that he will be filing the Memphis Safe Task Force DA Accountability Act.
The proposed legislation would require that district attorneys certify any downgraded charges or dismissals of charges that stem from Operation Viper or the Task Force to the U.S. Attorney and Tennessee General Assembly.
Taylor has said that the Task Force’s success is in line with what he knew was possible and what he has been working toward for three years.
Reports show that there have been approximately 700-800 daily traffic stops in Memphis since the inception of the Task Force. Officers have issued nearly 11,000 citations between all law enforcement agencies.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
