That latter point resonated when Carl Davis, Memphis Allies’ managing director of operations, told the audience: “Five years ago to this exact day, my best friend was murdered right here in the city of Memphis.”
Shelby County Sheriff Anthony Buckner referenced the SEC football game to be played that night between LSU and Ole Miss in Oxford, saying that Corey Adams should be there, but wouldn’t be.
In July of 2025, Adams was an Ole Miss freshman on the football team when he was shot and killed after someone fired into a crowd outside a Cordova house party. No arrests have been made, and Buckner still receives regular calls from Adams’ mother.
“Each time, I hear the brokenness in her voice,” Buckner said. “Because her son visited Memphis for only a few minutes, and he was gunned down.”
Numbers tell part of the story
A city fighting gun crime needs signs of encouragement. Memphis has them, including:
A 35% decline in murders through the first eight months of 2026 as compared to 2025
A 31.5% drop in major violent crime in Memphis, including homicide, robbery, rape and aggravated assault, through the first six months of this year
A 24% decline from 2023 to 2025 in crimes involving a gun
But the mission to make Memphis safer continues.
“I want to caution us that progress is not completion,” Davis said. “The families we serve don’t see violence as a statistic. They see an empty chair at the dinner table.”
In November of 2024, the City of Memphis and Shelby County Government came together to form the Joint Office of Neighborhood Safety & Engagement. The goal: act as a bridge between government agencies and community organizations to make gun violence prevention and intervention efforts more collaborative and efficient.
This also means being supportive of families impacted by gun violence. Tamika Williams, the Joint Office’s city director, said citizens might be aware that statistics are trending in the right direction, but they need more.
“It’s not enough to just hear the numbers,” she said. “It’s about how people feel, and how they see their situation changing or not changing.”
Change is possible
With a 46% drop in murders from 2023 to 2025, the numbers were starting to improve before the formation of the Memphis Safe Task Force. But U.S. Attorney Mike Dunavant said there is no disputing the Task Force has made a major impact.
Just one example: as of Sept. 19, the task force had made 12,870 arrests in less than a year. Dunavant added that almost 1,300 of those arrests were for gun-related offenses.
“It gives you an idea of the magnitude of the task force,” he said, adding that there is no announced end date.
Crime Commission President Bill Gibbons said a new five-year plan to reduce gun violence could be rolled out by January 2027. The big question: “How do we keep success moving forward?”
Buckner shared two primary areas of focus: curbing crime on the streets and doing something to change the futures of people already incarcerated. Law enforcement, he said, can’t do what nonprofits do and preemptively go into homes and offer families wraparound services.
But he also said he realizes the importance of one-on-one connections that frontline staff, such as outreach specialists and life coaches, can make with people at the highest risk for gun violence. Buckner believes changing lives is possible, saying he grew up without a father in the home and benefited from a mentor who remains in his life today.
“The more we can walk alongside programs like Memphis Allies,” the sheriff said, “we can get there.”
