WMC-TV 5 - Memphis, TNMan's home burglarized one day after speaking to council

Man's home burglarized one day after speaking to council

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - A man who urged Memphis City Council members to relax the Memphis police residency requirements because he wants more officers in his neighborhood found himself the victim of a home break-in.

Joe Evangelisti spent five hours Tuesday night at Memphis City Hall trying to make the point of relaxing residency requirements for police officers.

The next day, around noon, police say a group of criminals hopped his fence, cut his phone and cable lines, kicked in the door, and began stealing anything of value in the home.

"These members of our community are saying 'please help us' and we're not helping them, and it makes me sick to my stomach," council member Shea Flinn said.

Flinn voted for relaxing residency requirements to fill 400 to 500 open police officer positions.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on this issue, but you're not entitled to your own math, and the math is clear: we do not have the population size for the applicant pool," Flinn said.

In the meantime, Evangelisti said he was putting security measures in his home, hoping to catch the criminals himself.

"We've got a crime emergency in this town," he said. "We need police now."

City council members who voted against the residency requirements say they want more officers too but they think the hiring practices are unfair.

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