Tennessee

Tennessee senator wants former NYPD commissioner’s help tackling Memphis crime

Published

1 year ago

May 29, 2024

Tennessee senator wants former NYPD commissioner’s help tackling Memphis crime

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Can the former top cop who dramatically reduced crime in New York City in the 1990s help make Memphis a safer city? State Senator Brent Taylor wants former New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton to tackle the Bluff City’s crime problem.

Under former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Bratton’s tough-on-crime approach reduced crime in the Big Apple by double digits in the first year.

Bratton is now executive chairman of Risk Advisory at Teneo, a global consulting firm that Sen. Taylor thinks the state should hire to help Memphis fix its crime problem.

“We have to do something immediately,” Taylor told Action News 5, “and the best way to do that is with crime suppression, with our police arresting people, and with our DA hopefully prosecuting people, getting convictions and getting people incarcerated.”

Taylor sent a letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Tuesday, May 28, requesting a meeting to talk about the state hiring a consultant who can create a crime reduction strategy for Memphis.

“If we don’t get a handle on the crime problem,” said Taylor, “we’re going to wind up being the new Detroit, which is the example of a failed American city.”

Sen. Taylor said Bratton’s experience in reducing crime is what Memphis needs right now. NYPD’s “Broken Windows” approach, making arrests for small crimes, worked, but not without controversy.

State Senator London Lamar called the department’s “stop and frisk” policy inhumane and unfair to Black and brown citizens.

”I am feeling the challenges around public safety just as much as you are, I get it,” she told Action News 5. “It is of urgency that we get this under control, but that doesn’t mean we need to implement policies that will do more harm than good.”

Sen. Taylor’s letter said the state should avoid working with criminal justice reform groups like Just City, Decarcerate Memphis, Vera Institute of Justice and Justice Innovation Lab.

“They are about defunding the police,” said Taylor, “decarceration, and they are about cashless bail, and I think they are part of the problem.”

In a statement, Just City Executive Director Josh Spickler told Action News 5:

“Sen. Brent Taylor’s latest letter again misrepresents the work of Just City and those doing the most to interrupt cycles of injustice and harm in our state. His proposals are unserious and would do nothing to address crime in our city. Instead of exploring legitimate policy solutions, Taylor continues to make boogeymen of advocates like us in order to score political points.

Just City values safety and justice for everyone, and we will not be defined or deterred by Sen. Taylor’s latest letter-writing stunt. We will continue to work tirelessly to make our city safer and more fair for everyone, as we have for the past nine years.”

And the Vera Institute of Justice provided the following statement:

“Vera Institute was invited to Memphis by local organizations, like Decarcerate Memphis, that are led by directly-impacted people. Victims, community members, and advocates overwhelmingly want alternatives to incarceration. While police are an important part of keeping Memphis safe, they are not the only solution. Restorative justice is a solution that people want; by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, research shows that victims prefer the criminal legal system to focus more on rehabilitating people who commit crimes than punishing them. When Memphis city council passed the Tyre Nichols Act reprioritizing traffic stops to keep people safer and build community trust with police, state officials responded by passing legislation attempting to reverse it. Vera will continue to collaborate with local governments and support community demands for policies and practices that truly keep people safe.”

In 2013, a federal judge found the manner in which NYPD carried out “stop and frisk” was unconstitutional.

Sen. Lamar said she does agree with Bratton on several issues: He’s against arming teachers with guns, he supports bans on assault weapons and champions tougher gun laws.

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Tennessee

Former Michigan Miss Basketball winner kicked off Tennessee team

Published

2 hours ago

November 2, 2025

Press Room

Former Michigan Miss Basketball winner kicked off Tennessee team

Associated Press
| The Detroit News

Knoxville, Tenn. – Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell announced Sunday that she has dismissed senior guard Ruby Whitehorn from the eighth-ranked Lady Vols, saying it was her responsibility to protect the program’s high standards.

Whitehorn played for Detroit Edison and won the Michigan Miss Basketball award in 2022.

“In light of recent events, Ruby has been unable to reflect those standards, and I have made the difficult decision to dismiss her from our team,” Caldwell said in a statement. “I love Ruby and will always be rooting for her, but my priority is to uphold the respected reputation of the Lady Vols.”

Whitehorn had been allowed back on the team following a suspension for an August arrest. She pleaded guilty Sept. 5 to two misdemeanors of aggravated trespassing and aggravated burglary in exchange for judicial diversion after the Aug. 8 altercation. Her record can be expunged after a year.

The 6-foot player was arrested after what police said was an incident at a woman’s residence where Whitehorn kicked in a front door and bedroom door. Whitehorn reportedly told officers she was getting her property back after the woman took her phone and passport and then locked the door.

Whitehorn then reportedly was stopped early on Oct. 30 by campus police who found her in possession of marijuana. She was charged with misdemeanor simple possession/casual exchange.

The Lady Vols open the season Tuesday night at No. 9 N.C. State.

Whitehorn started 28 of 34 games last season for the Lady Vols and ranked fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points. She began her career at Clemson, where she started 62 of 66 games.

She helped Tennessee go 24-10 in coach Caldwell’s debut season. The Lady Vols lost to Texas in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

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Tennessee

5 Tennessee football takeaways from loss to Oklahoma to fall out of playoff race

Published

21 hours ago

November 2, 2025

Press Room

5 Tennessee football takeaways from loss to Oklahoma to fall out of playoff race

Tennessee football committed a season-high three turnovers to suffer a 33-27 loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 1 and drop out of the College Football Playoff race.

The 14th-ranked Vols (6-3, 3-3 SEC) squandered early scoring chances and gave No. 18 Oklahoma (7-2, 3-2) ample opportunities to steal the game.

UT quarterback Joey Aguilar tossed two interceptions, and his fumble was returned for a touchdown. Meanwhile, Oklahoma kicker Tate Sandell made all four field goal attempts from 40 yards, 51 yards and twice from 55 yards.

The loss especially stung for UT coach Josh Heupel, who led Oklahoma to the 2000 national title as a Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback. His team’s third loss of the season puts a second straight playoff bid out of reach.

Tennessee heads into an off week before hosting New Mexico State on Nov. 15 (4:15 p.m., SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium. Before turning toward that break, here are five takeaways from this loss to Oklahoma.

Tennessee never recovered from mistake-filled first half

Tennessee outgained Oklahoma 255 yards to 99 yards in the first half. And it had 17 first downs to Oklahoma’s five first downs. Yet, the Vols trailed 16-10 on the scoreboard at halftime.

Several unforced errors by UT led to that discrepancy, including two interceptions, a missed field goal and a fumble returned by Oklahoma for a touchdown.

In a game that felt like UT led by multiple scores, it instead trailed at halftime.

Oklahoma’s record-long fumble return started the mistakes

On a strange play, Oklahoma tied the game 7-7 on defensive end R Mason Thomas’ 71-yard fumble return for a TD. Linebacker Owen Heinecke came on a free rush off the edge. It appeared that freshman right tackle David Sanders was unsure of his assignment, and he whiffed trying to block Heinecke.

Heinecke hit Aguilar and forced the fumble, which Thomas scooped. Tight end Miles Kitselman failed to tackle Thomas, who suffered an injury and limped down the sideline for the TD. It was the longest fumble return in Oklahoma history.

In the second quarter, Aguilar tossed two interceptions. Both were returned 37 yards and set up Oklahoma field goals.

Josh Heupel has losing record vs. Top 25 opponents

Heupel’s record dropped to 11-12 against ranked opponents at Tennessee, including a 4-5 mark at home. Against Top 25 teams, he is 3-0 at neutral site games and 4-7 on the road.

The Vols fell out of playoff contention because they lost to all three ranked opponents they faced this season: Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Joey Aguilar committed three costly turnovers

Aguilar was 29-of-45 passing for 393 yards, three TDs and two interceptions in an up-and-down performance, and he lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown.

Nevertheless, Aguilar hit some notable benchmarks in his career and UT history.

Aguilar became the fifth UT quarterback to record at least four 300-yard passing games in a season. He joined Peyton Manning, Tyler Bray, Hendon Hooker and Andy Kelly. Manning holds the school record with 10 300-yard passing games in the 1997 season, when he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up.

Aguilar also moved into 11th place on UT’s single-season list for TD passes with his 21st. Manning holds the school record with 36 TD passes in 1997.

And Aguilar has passed for at least 200 yards in all 33 starts of his Division I career, including nine at UT and 24 at Appalachian State. That’s the longest active streak in FBS.

Neyland Stadium crowd witnessed rare home loss

It was Tennessee’s first home loss to a team other than Georgia in the past four seasons.

In that way, Heupel’s teams seemed almost invincible at Neyland Stadium. But a sellout crowd witnessed this frustrating rare loss.

Heupel fell to 28-6 at Neyland Stadium during his tenure, which began in 2021. He’s had only three losses in the past 28 home games, losing to Georgia in 2023 and 2025 and to Oklahoma in this one.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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