Memphis mayoral candidate Charles Carpenter said today if elected he would fire Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and transition crime-fighting to a community-based approach.
"We're going to change the strategy and philosophy for dealing with crime," Carpenter said on a morning interview with WHBQ Fox-13 Memphis.
Carpenter, a private attorney who managed three of Willie Herenton's mayoral campaigns, said this means moving toward a community policing model. People in the neighborhoods often know who committed crimes in their area, but those citizens aren't getting the respect or the cooperation from many officers in the Memphis Police Department, he said. He'd get the police officers out of special units so could get to know residents in their area.
"Once the community knows who the officers are and the officers know the community, I think we'll be more effective at dealing with crime," he said.
In the five-minute sit-down interview, Carpenter also touched on why he's the best choice for mayor, saying he's one of the few non-career politicians in the race.
"We're tired of the same politicians, the same political thought," he said. "If we keep doing the same, we'll keep getting the same mediocre results."
But Carpenter isn't exactly a green thumb at city politics. A longtime confidante of Herenton, Carpenter was hired as outside bond council for the city of Memphis for 17 years, handling complex legal and finance matters for the city.
His campaign slogan is "A New Beginning."
i guess we'll pay for it all by skimming millions off the top of various publicly-financed construction deals. i'll bet one missing floor of the fedex forum parking garage could pay for a whole bunch of cop cars and stuff.
This crook carpenter has skimmed millions from the city already...