The Memphis, Tennessee, metro area ranks as the most dangerous city in the United States. More than 18,000 violent crimes were reported in the metro area in 2020, or 1,359 for every 100,000 people — more than three times the U.S. violent crime rate. The number of homicides committed in Memphis climbed by 38%, from 237 in 2019 to 327 in 2020. At 24.2 per 100,000 people, the homicide rate in Memphis is the second highest of any U.S. metro area.

Deadly violence continues to rise in Memphis. The city has reported more homicides so far in 2021 than it had over the comparable period the previous year. City leaders have plans to curtail criminal violence in the city, but reportedly need hundreds more police officers to execute those plans. The department is reportedly offering a $15,000 signing bonus in order to aid in the recruitment effort.

That’s not going to do much for tourism, which used to be a huge part of Memphis’ appeal. I can remember, even in the early 1980s when the city was just starting to get its act together, and Beale Street was a dark hole with Blues Alley/maybe 3 other clubs open and the riverfront was mostly abandoned warehouses, there were still entrepreneurs opening restaurants, smallish music venues, trying to encourage foot traffic from the skyscraper city core (where they’d blocked off a pedestrian section) to the river.

We women Marines would go in a smallish group and really enjoy ourselves. Overton Square was humming with college kids. It had promise, and it came to fruition. (I don’t know what happened. Beale Street now comes up flagged on Yelp as “not safe” along with links for “shoot-out” news reports.)

Fortunately, Memphis authorities know how to turn things around: ‘Real men don’t murder’ ad looks to address crime, teach how to be a man.

‘Don’t lose your head, use your head mane’ — ‘I said mane because, in Memphis, that means man. Problem is, a lot of y’all ain’t even that. Having a gun doesn’t make you a man.’

This is just a piece of a new public service announcement, with the same message from three years ago.

Since the last public service announcement, the homicide numbers have continued to increase, according to a previous search done by the University of Memphis.

Howard Robertson, CEO of Trust Marketing and Communications, said according to research done by the university, the homicide numbers have continued to increase, since the last public service announcement.

He said, that’s a reflection of how effective the messaging is, especially for young men, and the conversations start with current inmates.

“They had issues with manhood, fatherhood, with their own fathers who in most cases were not around, and who they blame for not teaching them how to be a man.”

The above article is dated December 30th, 2021. Curiously, that campaign didn’t have much of an affect on Wednesday’s Facebook shooter: Police Arrest Memphis Driver Who Shot at People While Streaming on Facebook.