Tennessee Highway Patrol Conducts Operation Grizzly in The City of Memphis and Shelby County

MEMPHIS- Today, October 30, Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) Memphis District along with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) and Shelby County Sheriff’s (SCSO) Office announced the next phase of “Operation Grizzly”, an enforcement initiative targeted to decrease traffic fatalities and promote public safety.  THP Captain Jimmie Johnson announced the initiative in partnership with MPD Director Michael Rallings and SCSO Sheriff Floyd Bonner. The dates for the operation are October 31 through November 4 and will continue November 14 through November 18.

“Operation Grizzly” is an operation that will bring troopers from the Memphis District and other regions of the state to target areas in the city of Memphis that have seen significant increases in fatal crashes,” said Captain Jimmie Johnson. 

This operation will also relieve local agencies of traffic enforcement duties to allow them to focus on violent crimes. The mission of “Operation Grizzly” is to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes in Shelby County particularly in Memphis city limits. Shelby County has seen an overall increase in crashes in 2018. From January 1 until October 15, there have been 6,563 total crashes involving injuries crashes with a total of 130 fatalities. That’s 28 more fatalities for the same time period in 2017.  In order to keep our roadways safe, THP will be running an enforcement campaign to target the causes of serious injury and fatal crashes. We will be utilizing current crash data to saturate areas within the city limits of Memphis that have experienced increased crash rates.

Our supporting partners are the Memphis Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Tennessee Highway Safety Office, local media and the general public. With the increase of THP involvement, our goal is to decrease fatal and serious injury crashes, increase seat belt usage, decrease distracted driving, and reduce violent crimes through proactive traffic enforcement.

Remember, you can dial *847 (*THP) to reach THP dispatch to request assistance of a trooper.

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s (www.TN.Gov/safety) mission is to serve, secure, and protect the people of Tennessee.