A task force ordered by President Donald Trump to combat crime in Memphis, Tennessee, has made thousands of arrests, compounding strains on the busy local court system and an already overcrowded jail in ways that concerned officials say will last months or even years as cases play out.
Since late September, hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel tied to the Memphis Safe Task Force have made traffic stops, served warrants and searched for fugitives in the city of about 610,000 people. More than 2,800 people have been arrested and more than 28,000 traffic citations have been issued, data provided by the task force and Memphis police shows.
The task force, which includes National Guard troops, is supported by Republican Gov. Bill Lee and others who hope the surge reduces crime in a city that has grappled with violent crime, including nearly 300 homicides last year and nearly 400 in 2023.
On Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi traveled to Memphis to meet with officers and tout the task force’s success in taking suspects and illegal guns off the street. Bondi and other law enforcement leaders later served food to officers to thank them for their work.
Asked about the strain on the local criminal justice system, U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta said authorities are bringing as many cases as they can in federal court. He said federal officials are open to working with state prosecutors to find ways to speed up prosecutions.
“If we don’t speed up the process, it’s going to continue to back up,” Serralta said. But, he said, “because we can’t put them through the criminal justice system does not mean that it’s a free pass to commit crimes. We’re going to keep arresting folks. They keep committing crimes, we’re going to keep arresting them.”
From 2018 to 2024, homicides in Memphis increased 33% and aggravated assaults rose 41%, according to AH Datalytics, which tracks crimes across the country using local law enforcement data for its Real-Time Crime Index. But AH Datalytics reported those numbers were down 20% during the first nine months of this year, even before the task force got to work.
Opponents of the task force in majority-Black Memphis say it targets minorities and intimidates law-abiding Latinos, some of whom have skipped work and changed social habits, such as avoiding going to church or restaurants, fearing they will be harassed and unfairly detained. Statistics released at the end of October showed 319 arrests so far on administrative warrants, which deal with immigration-related issues.
The effects have rippled beyond the streets, into the aging criminal courthouse and the troubled jail. Officials are concerned about long waits in traffic court causing people to miss work and packed criminal court dockets forcing inmates to spend extra days waiting for bail hearings.
“The human cost of it is astounding,” said Josh Spickler, executive director for Just City, a Memphis-based organization that advocates for fairness in the criminal justice system.
The mayor of Shelby County, which includes Memphis, has requested more judges to hear cases that could span months or years. County officials are discussing opening court at night and on weekends, a move that would help manage the caseload but cost more.
Meanwhile, Shelby County Jail inmates are being moved to other facilities because of overcrowding, officials say. Inmates at jail intake are sleeping in chairs, and jail officials are asking county commissioners for funding to help address problems, such as a corrections employees shortage.
These issues raise concerns from activists and officials about safety in a jail that has seen 65 deaths since 2019, according to Just City. Court case backlogs mean defendants and crime victims could spend an unfair amount of time dealing with the criminal justice system, said Steve Mulroy, the county’s district attorney.
“The task force deployment probably could have used more planning,” said Mulroy, a Democrat whose office is cooperating with the task force. “More thought could have been put into the downstream effects of the increased arrest numbers.”
Jail official asks for help
There were hundreds more jail bookings and bail settings during the first several weeks of the task force’s operation than during the comparable period last year, an increase of about 40% in each category, according to county statistics.
The jail, which has a regular capacity of 2,400, had an average daily population of 3,195 inmates in September, the most recent month when statistics were available. County officials said that number was expected to rise for October.
As of mid-November, 250 overflow jail detainees were being housed at other facilities, compared with 80 in November 2024. Some of those are outside Shelby County, which makes it harder for lawyers and relatives to visit and increases the cost of bringing defendants to Memphis for hearings.
In a letter to commissioners, Chief Jailer Kirk Fields has requested at least $1.5 million in emergency funds, noting that more inmates means more expenses for food, clothing, bedding and linens.
Help with the courts
One issue is whether there are enough judges to hear cases, especially after lawmakers eliminated two judgeships during last year’s session.
On Oct. 31, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris wrote to state court officials asking for additional judges, saying the county is preparing for at least 3,500 to 5,000 people being arrested. More arrests increase jail expenses and the possible hiring of more public defenders, prosecutors and jail employees, he wrote.
“This places Shelby County in extreme financial peril,” Harris wrote.
The Tennessee Supreme Court’s response said that while lower court judges reported more judges are not necessary at this time, it has designated two senior judges to help should they be needed.
“Part of it is, understanding just what the cadence is going to look like over the next few months and then developing a strategy,” the governor said earlier this month, noting that the state is monitoring the situation.
Some officials have proposed Saturday court sessions and night court sessions two or three nights a week, Mulroy said. They’ve considered having a clinic where people facing misdemeanor warrants could surrender, to help clear those up.
Mulroy’s office also is reevaluating whether detention is necessary for people jailed in hundreds of low-level cases.
“If there’s no basis to think they’re a danger to the community or a flight risk, and they’re in there just because they can’t afford their bail, we can take a second look,” he wrote.
Task force says it’s being effective
Ryan Guay, a U.S. Marshals Service and task force spokesperson, told The Associated Press that the high volume of arrests reflects the force’s effectiveness.
“We recognize that this success places additional demands on the broader criminal justice system, including courts and detention facilities,” Guay said.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has said that it is making a satellite prison camp available to the task force. The bureau said the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office would assume oversight of the facility. A sheriff’s office spokesperson declined to comment on the camp’s location, citing operational security.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM