For press information, contact Kathy Kruger, 901-233-6296 or Laura Svec, 901-435-7778

Project Safeways, a first-of-its-kind pilot project to decrease crime in southeast Memphis apartment complexes, will be unveiled at a news conference Monday, March 23, at 2 p.m. at the Autumn Ridge Apartments, 3888 Autumn Ridge Court (on Ridgeway Boulevard between Hickory Hill Road and Ridgeway Road, south of Hickory Ridge Mall).

Among those scheduled to attend are Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons; Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin; Memphis City Councilman Harold Collins; Dr. Phyllis Betts, director of the Center for Community Building and Neighborhood Action at the University of Memphis; Dr. Richard Janikowski, director of the U of M’s Center for Community and Criminology Research; Pierce Ledbetter, president and CEO of LEDIC Management Group; and executives from the Southeast Memphis Community Development Corporation.

Project Safeways, supported in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, is a data-driven strategy to curb violent crime in apartment complexes and adjacent areas. This coordinated crime reduction effort brings law enforcement, community leaders, and apartment management together to target and reduce crime in specific “hot spots,” using the best in data analysis and police tools.

Project Safeways is also a coordinated effort involving the public and private sectors. LEDIC Management Group pioneered this public/private partnership, in which 100 percent private funds are used to equip the apartment communities in state-of-the-art surveillance equipment connected to the city’s Real Time Crime Center.

At the March 23rd news conference, community leaders will describe how this pilot program can help deter violent crime in Memphis and around the country. The also will demonstrate the equipment and program specifics.

For more information, call Kathy Krueger at 901-233-6296 or Laura Svec at 901-435-7778.