Beale Street out of control

[Clobber]

The best thing to do is complain. If people ask for money and you tell them "no" and they move on, that is one thing. But if they start cursing at you or threating you, tell the police. They will bring them to the mental health center where they can get some treatment.

Residents for a safer downtown Memphis

http://www.saferdowntownmemphis.com/

[hgupta]

nm... moved to the panhandler topic

[jmduke]

Well, it's midsummer so it's time for the annual "crime is out of control on Beale Street" article in the local media. This latest one was in the CA on 07/22, but this time, the article sheds light on the economics of Beale leases and the controlling interests in Club 152. Sounds like a pretty rowdy place, but when the likes of Kevin Kane and Rusty Hyneman have a sweet lease and a strong hand in keeping it open, you have to figure not much will change. Lots of big names are involved in this...I'm sure we haven't heard the end of it on the editorial pages.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/...5640020,00.html

[Memphis Love]

Beale Street is steadily getting more and more out of control. The thug element in this city is horrible, and the cruising makes anyone interested in going downtown quickly regret their decision.

[Lexy]

Beale Street is steadily getting more and more out of control. The thug element in this city is horrible, and the cruising makes anyone interested in going downtown quickly regret their decision.

[Memphis Love]

It is against the law, but that doesn't mean anything in Memphis!

[bigshow1991]

It is against the law, but that doesn't mean anything in Memphis!

[Memphis Love]

unfortunately big show you are incorrect, i would say 75% of the traffic downtown are cruisers, not people looking for parking, as there are many parking options in downtown that are cheap and affordable.

Cruisers and the "thug element" will continue to make downtown a less than desirable place for tourists and respectable Memphians alike. Until the police crack down on this and the homeless problem, we are going to see major problems downtown, in my opinion.

[bigshow1991]

as there are many parking options in downtown that are cheap and affordable.

[Fellowmann20]

I don't know about thugs on Beale Street because I don't go Downtown a lot (although I would like to), but there has always been plenty of parking spots in the Peabody Place parking garages and at One Commerce Square.

[tennreb]

There is tons of parking downtown. Hardly ever do I see a full garage, and there are garages nearly every block. The cruising has gotten ridiculous. I don't mind the traffic so much as the complete disregard for all traffic laws and people on the street. The music is extremely loud (isn't there a noise ordinace?) and they run red lights, make left turns from the right lane, block intersections, etc. This is done directly in police view, but they do nothing about it.

[Rural King]

I think Beale Street and its issues are pretty common for any city with an active night life area. Lots of people, esp. younger folks like to cruise all night to kill time, and of course most active areas that involve night life can bring out thuggish and sketchy elements in you major urban areas. If you look at Nashville for example, on a Friday or Saturday night on Broadway and Second you will have a virtual traffic jam come the later hours with kids cruising and up the way on Second a thuggish element often lurks. So this is not really unique to Memphis.

Same thing with parking, you hear that parking is limited in Nashville quite a bit, but it seems more often than not folks simply don't want to have to walk two blocks to their destination. Parking of course nearest to the action is going to fill up first and stay full, but its usually not that hard to find close parking within a couple blocks of the popular and active parts of the city.

[it's just dave]

Club Mystic, the source of much of the late night trouble, has been shut down. From what I understand, the anti-cruising ordinance, curfews and increased police presence has made a big difference in what goes on after midnight. I can't give first hand knowledge, but I hear it's much better with the club gone. I certainly hope so. Nothing like allowing a cancer to grow on your cash cow and expect it to continue making money.

I certainly hope Memphis can get a handle on this and I hope we can continue working on it. It just doesn't seem fair for areas in which everyone should feel safe and have fun be allowed to be overrun by the very things tennreb just described.

[fearlessvk]

I live 2 blocks away from Beale Street and have never had any problems whatsoever related to "thuggish elements" (whatever this really means). I don't go to Beale Street all that often since it seems like more of a tourist destination to me, but whenever I have friends visiting from out of town I *always* take them for some late-night Beale Street revelry and there has never once been a single incident that has made me or any of my friends feel remotely uncomfortable or unsafe. I would be absolutely shocked if Beale Street wasn't one of the safest streets in all of Memphis. Of course I'm not saying there are NEVER any problems, but only that such problems seem exceedingly rare.

As for parking, I park every day in the Parking Can be Fun garage (a misnomer if there ever was one!) because it is effectively part of my rental package. I have lived here for a year now and I can recall only ONE occasion all year when the garage was full. That garage is a 3 minute walk from Beale Street. I can't begin to comprehend the complaints about inadequate parking in downtown Memphis. It's a CITY CENTER - you're supposed to WALK places. It's ridiculous to expect to be able to park 2 inches away from your destination in any downtown. You park, and you WALK.

[bigshow1991]

i park in the Peabody Tower Parking Garage as a resident of Gayoso House its required, which usually gets full on friday and saturday and they have to cut off parking and just let residents in. Most people unfamiliar with downtown will not want to park far away from their destination however.

I would guess that a lot of these negative aassumptiosn about Beale St are made by poster who havent' been to beale on a friday or saturday past 11.00pm in a long time or at all. There is too much traffic to run a red light, or make an illegal left. And I see police riding on bicycles going around giving tickets to people stuck in traffic not wearing seatbelts. For someone to suggest most police just turn a blind eye to downtown traffic is ridiculous.

And we all know what "thug element" means. These stereotypes kill me? What is a thug? someone that listens to rap music? wears baggy jeans? a durag? Or just a young black male? or all of the above?

[UptownNewOrleans]

Everytime I'm in Memphis, I always hit up Beale St at night. When the neon lights come on, you know what time it is. Some people say the same about Bourbon St. in New Orleans, it's out of control. To a degree it's true, but at the same time downtown N.O. wouldn't be downtown without some action

[Rural King]

And we all know what "thug element" means. These stereotypes kill me? What is a thug?

[tennreb]

i park in the Peabody Tower Parking Garage as a resident of Gayoso House its required, which usually gets full on friday and saturday and they have to cut off parking and just let residents in. Most people unfamiliar with downtown will not want to park far away from their destination however.

I would guess that a lot of these negative aassumptiosn about Beale St are made by poster who havent' been to beale on a friday or saturday past 11.00pm in a long time or at all. There is too much traffic to run a red light, or make an illegal left. And I see police riding on bicycles going around giving tickets to people stuck in traffic not wearing seatbelts. For someone to suggest most police just turn a blind eye to downtown traffic is ridiculous.

And we all know what "thug element" means. These stereotypes kill me? What is a thug? someone that listens to rap music? wears baggy jeans? a durag? Or just a young black male? or all of the above?

[Memphis Love]

i agree with tennreb, while i don't live downtown i am downtown almost every weekend or have been up until recently. A g/f of mine was cornered at the corner of Peabody Place/Third by Hooter's one night by a group of THUGS who tried to intimidate her and sexual harassed her. If it hadn't been for a group of fraternity guys leaving Beale Street, who knows what would have happened to her! There is definitely a criminal element that has creeped into Downtown, and the police seem to look the other way!

[bigshow1991]

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Safety Concerns on Beale Street

Here's an article that really talks about the overuse of security on Beale Street and Downtown, however, the CA turns it into "another incident on beale raises concerns about safety" story. Is the commercial appeal TRYING to kill Beale St by perpetuating negative stereotypes?

[G-townTN]

After reading this article I have come to the conclusion that it is not the bums that I should be worried about but rather the security.

Note: When I say security I am not referring to the police, but I am confused as to where they were when all this was happening.

On another note I am puzzled how all this even took place. The man that got slammed into the ground was 51 years old. He and his wife were trying to walk across the street to the westin. I have squeaked between people and barriers before and nothing has ever happened to me. I do take into consideration the back grounds of each side. The 51 year old man was probably being real stubborn, which I don't fault him too much because he was 30 years older than the guard and to my knowledge was not breaking the law. On the other side, the guard was probably pretty hot-headed and on top of that he was probably doing a few steroids, which explains why he would "pile drive" a man that was visibly older than him.

This leads me to a question, should beale street outsource security to a private firm or, being a city owned street, should security be left up to the memphis police? Bourbon street, 2nd street in Nashville, and hosts of other entertainment districts across the country are not barricaded off like beale. I don't see a problem with police on horse back walking up and down the street. It seems to me a private security company is not held to the same standards as a police force and I do believe a memphis cop would not slam a man onto the ground as in this case.

[Memphis Love]

agreed g-town, this is absurd that something like this can happen in downtown memphis!

again, I think the police are missing in action or something, where are they?

They are absent for the homelessness problem, absent for crime, and now absent when it comes to overzealous security harassing visitors to the area, this is ridiculous.

[jmduke]

Are we having fun on Beale yet? http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/...5663282,00.html

[bigshow1991]

Beale St Video

well, here's a story from Fox that has reviewed the video, although i couldn't see anything, FOX states that the 51 year old pushed the security guard several times, and says that the guard didn't "bodyslam" him.

[Memphis Love]

no offense, but i'm not trusting any report by les smith from fox 13.....especially a grainy video taken from 100 feet away!

no matter how you slice it, the security guard was out of control and has a prior criminal history, that alone should be enough to condemn him...

Beale St Video

well, here's a story from Fox that has reviewed the video, although i couldn't see anything, FOX states that the 51 year old pushed the security guard several times, and says that the guard didn't "bodyslam" him.