TREY: WELCOME BACK TO
"SUNDAY NIGHT IN AMERICA," WE CONTINUE WITH OUR ON
WE CONTINUE WITH OUR ON
GOING SERIES.
100 MILLION WILL DO ARE
CRIME INTERVENTION FUND TO
STRENGTHEN PUBLIC SAFETY
ACROSS THE STATE.
PURCHASE EQUIPMENT,
TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE CRIME.
SOME FOLKS THINK THAT
DEFUNDING POLICE WILL MAKE
YOU SAFER, GOVERNOR LEE IS
NOT ONE OF THEM.
HE IS JOINING US NOW.
WELCOME GOVERNOR.
TELL US WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND WHAT LEAD YOU TO DO
AND WHAT LEAD YOU TO DO
THIS, THE WHY?
>> I THINK PART OF REAL
CHALLENGE WE HAVE A BORDER
THAT IS WIDE OPEN, THERE IS
ILLEGAL DRUG TRAFFIC FLOWING
IN.
IN RECORD AMOUNTS.
IT IS BEHIND A LOT OF THAT
CRIME.
AND IT IS UNPRECEDENTED TIME
WE HAVE TO TAKE UNSTRESS
DENTUNPRECEDENTED STEPS, I’M
A STRONG BELIEVER LAW
ENFORCEMENT IS A THIN LINE
BETWEEN ORDER AND CHAOS.
IN TENNESSEE WE WANT TO GIVE
THEM THE RESOURCES AND
RESPECT THEY DESERVE.
WE PUT A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT
OF ENGINEER AND FUNDING INTO
THE RECRUITMENT OF LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS FROM
ALL OVER THE COUNTRY FROM
STATES THAT MAY BE DON’T
RESPECT THEM AND DON’T
SUPPORT THEM.
BUT WE DO HERE.
WE’RE RECRUITING THEN AND
ALSO ARE PROVIDING RESOURCES
THEY NEED.
WE PUT $100 MILLION FOR
EXAMPLE IN A VIOLENT CRIME
INTERVENTION GRANT FUND WILL
PROVIDE DOLLARS FOR SHERIFF
DEPARTMENTS, POLICE
DEPARTMENTS ALL OVER THE
STATE TO USE THE DOLLARS IN
THE WAY THEY SEE FIT.
TO ADDRESS THE CRIME PROBLEM
IN THE STATE.
PEOPLE DESERVE TO LIVE IN A
SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD.
WE HAVE TO MAKE CERTAIN
WE’RE DOING EVERYTHING THAT
WE IT TAKE MAKE SURE IT
HAPPENS, WE’RE DOING THAT
HERE IN THE STATE.
TREY: I THINK PUBLIC SAFETY
IS PREEM PRE.
FUNCTION, I SALUTE YOU FOR
CONTINUES TO PRIORITIZE
PUBLIC SAFETY, WAS THERE
SOMETHING SPECIFMAKE
HAPPENED SPECIFIC TO MAKE
THAT HAPPEN OR IS THIS
SOMETHING YOU ALWAYS SAID.
>> WHEN I RAN.
4 YEARS AGO, I HAD NEVER RUN
FOR OFFICE BEFORE.
I WORKED IN THE PRIVATE
SECTOR ALL MY LIFE, I SAID
PEOPLE DELIVER TO HAVE A
GOOD SCHOOL FOR THEIR KID
AND A GOOD JOB AND LIVE IN A
SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD.
FROM THE BEGINNING WE HAVE
KNOWN THAT IS ONE OF THE
PRIMARY FUNCTIONS OF
GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE FOR
SECURITY OF THE PEOPLE OF
THIS STATE.
WE HAVE INVESTED, HAVE BEEN
DOING SO BUT WE’RE DOUBLING
DOWN NOW BECAUSE OF THE
PARTICULAR PROBLEM THAT
EXISTS IN THE COUNTRY TODAY.
TREY: I READ YOUR PLAN, PART
OF IT, ALSO INCLUDES
PROVIDING PROGRAMS FOR
PEOPLE WHO ARE INSCARCE
INCARCERATED.
AS WE KNOW THE OVERWHELMING
NUMBER OF PEOPLE PERCENTAGE
OF PEOPLE INCARCERATED WILL
BE RELEASE ONE DAY.
THE QUESTION IS, WHAT ARE WE
RELEASING BACK INTO SOCIETY?
WITH RESPECT TO RECIDIVISM?
I THINK YOU HAVE MONEY TO
MAKE SURE THESE PEOPLE ARE
REHABILITATED?
>> 25 YEARS AGO, I WAS
INVOLVED IN AND STARTED
INVOLVE AM IN A REENTRY
PROGRAM, A NONPROFIT, A
MINISTRY.
THAT SERVES PEOPLE COME BACK
IN.
YOU ARE RIGHT, 95% OF PEOPLE
IN A JAIL CELL ARE GOING TO
GET OUT.
THEY WILL COME RIGHT BACK
INTO THE NEIGHBORHOODS.
AND THE DEGREE TO WHICH WE
MAKE CERTAIN THAT WE’RE
REENTERING THEM EFFICIENTLY
AND EFFECTIVELY WITH
TRAINING AND SKILLS SO THEY
CAN REENTER SOCIETY AND NOT
REENTER PRISON, THAT LOWERS
THE RECIDIVISM RATE, RIGHT
NOW ABOUT HALF OF THE PEOPLE
THAT GET OUT WILL COMMIT
ANOTHER CRIME, ANOTHER
VICTIM, ANOTHER TAXPAYER
DOLLAR, IF WE FOCUS ON THAT
REENTRY WE CAN LOWER THE
RECIDIVISM RATE AND HAVE
SAFER NEIGHBORHOODS IN OUR
STATE.
TREY: CRIME, AS I HAVE
NOTED, THERE IS A ROLE FOR
FEDERAL LAW ENFORCE.
AND PROSECUTORS.
HAVE YOU HAD A CHAPTTO TALK
CHANCE TO TALK WITH YOUR
FEDERAL COLLEAGUES?
>> I DO THINK THAT THERE IS
A ROLE.
I WILL GO TO WHAT I SAID
ORIGINALLY, I AM CERTAINLY
HOPEFUL THAT AT THE FEDERAL
LEVEL, WE CAN ADDRESS THE
NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE WE
HAVE AT THE BORDER.
MY WIFE AND I WENT DOWN LAST
YEAR, WE HAD NATIONAL
GUARDSMEN ON THE BORDER OF
TEXAS.
AND WHEN -- NOT JUST DRUG
TRAFFIC, HUMAN TRAFFICKING.
SEX TRAFFICS, THE ILLEGAL
ACTIVITY THAT IS HAPPENING
DOWN THERE.
AND REALLY UNBELIEVABLE
LEVELS, IT INFILTRATES THAT
CRIME OVER STATE IN THE
NATION.
THERE ARE ILLEGAL DRUGS
BEHIND THE VAST MAJORITY OF
THE VIOLENT CRIMES THAT ARE
HAPPENING IN THE STREETS,
AND WE NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE
THERE.
TREY: AMEN, DRUGS, ALCOHOL
AND A LACK OF EDUCATION, I
WOULD HAVE BEEN OUT OF A
JOB, GOVERNOR BILL LEE THANK