Police shortage, recruitment difficulty make Memphis a 'murder hotspot': report

NEW YORK - A chronic shortage of police officers, increasing numbers of police quitting and a struggle to bring in qualified recruits have made the US city of Memphis one of the country's "murder hotspots", the Associated Press has reported.

The report on Wednesday analyzed why the city in the state of Tennessee is witnessing soaring crimes and mounting police brutality.

Facing a growing desperation to fill hundreds of slots in recent years, the Memphis police department was prompted to increase incentives and lower its standard of recruitment.

According to the report, the department offered new recruits 15,000 US dollars signing bonuses and 10,000 dollars relocation allowances while phasing out requirements to have either college credits, military service or previous police work.

"I asked them what made you want to be the police and they'll be honest -- they'll tell you it's strictly about the money," Alvin Davis, a former lieutenant in charge of recruiting before he retired last year, was quoted as saying.

"Memphis, in many ways, stands as a microcosm of the myriad crises facing American policing," the report said, adding that the missed chance for federal intervention allowed the problems of the department -- soaring crime, community distrust and chronic understaffing -- "to fester until they exploded."