Memphis Safe Task Force
| Abbreviation | MSTF |
|---|---|
| Formation | September 15, 2025 (presidential memorandum) September 29, 2025 (operations began) |
| Founder | Donald Trump |
| Type | Multi-agency law enforcement task force |
| Location | Memphis, Tennessee |
Region served | Memphis and Shelby County |
Commander | Frankie Sanchez |
Parent organization | United States Marshals Service |
The Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF) is a multi-agency law enforcement operation in Memphis, Tennessee, created by a presidential memorandum that Donald Trump signed on September 15, 2025.[1] Led by the United States Marshals Service, it includes federal agencies such as the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations, with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, local police and the Tennessee National Guard.[2][3] Operations began on September 29, 2025.[4]
By September 24, 2026, the task force reported 13,020 arrests and more than 2,100 firearms seized.[5] Governor Bill Lee has credited it with a drop in crime. Memphis crime had already fallen to a 25-year low before the task force arrived.[6][7] Critics, including city council members and faith leaders, have pointed to deaths during task force operations and the number of arrests for nonviolent offenses. More than 800 of its arrests have been for immigration violations.[6][8]
Background
[edit]On September 12, 2025, Trump announced that he would send National Guard troops to Memphis, saying that "Memphis is deeply troubled."[9] Three days earlier, the Memphis Police Department had reported that crime in the city had dropped to a 25-year low across major categories.[7] The September 15 memorandum directed the Secretary of Defense to request that the Governor of Tennessee deploy the Tennessee National Guard to Memphis, and ordered the creation of a federal law enforcement task force to work alongside it.[1][10]
Memphis mayor Paul Young and members of the Memphis City Council spoke against the deployment,[11] and Shelby County mayor Lee Harris opposed it more firmly.[12] Governor Lee supported the operation.[6]
Operations
[edit]The task force made nine arrests on its first day.[4] On October 1, 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller visited Memphis and addressed task force officers. Miller told them they were "unleashed" and said, "We are going to bulldoze the criminal elements in this city."[13][14] National Guard patrols began on October 10, 2025.[4]
ABC24 counted 13 participating agencies;[4] ProPublica described more than two dozen federal, state and local agencies.[3] City Journal reported more than 2,600 personnel from 33 agencies working in 42 teams across the city's nine police precincts.[2] The Tennessee Highway Patrol leads its traffic enforcement.[3] Tyreece Miller, the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee, oversees the operation locally; its commander is Frankie Sanchez.[5][2]
In October 2025, Governor Lee announced a $100 million Downtown Public Safety Grant Fund for the Memphis area to support the task force, part of $175 million in state public safety grants.[15] Trump visited Memphis on March 23, 2026, and spoke about the task force.[16]
Arrests
[edit]According to figures released on September 24, 2026, the task force had made 13,020 arrests, including 1,443 people it identified as gang members and 845 immigration-related arrests, an average of about 36 arrests a day.[5] Earlier releases reported 131 homicide arrests, 1,363 narcotics arrests and 1,276 firearms arrests.[17] By late February 2026, about 200 juveniles had been arrested.[4]
An analysis by MLK50 and ProPublica of daily arrest reports from October 2025 to early February 2026 found that just over a quarter of more than 5,200 arrests were for violent crimes; most of the rest stemmed from outstanding warrants.[3]
Immigration enforcement
[edit]Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations take part in the task force.[3] The MLK50 and ProPublica analysis found that the task force arrested more than 800 people deemed to be in the country unlawfully in its first four months. Seventeen of them, about 2%, were also arrested for violent crimes. About 82% of the immigration arrests followed a traffic stop, usually initiated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol for minor violations such as a broken taillight or window tint. Most took place in the Parkway Village neighborhood.[3] A White House spokesperson responded that "every local leader should want to mimic this success."[3] According to NPR, immigration arrests in the Memphis area rose sixfold in the task force's first months, and an analysis by the Institute for Public Service Reporting found that most people arrested had no criminal convictions.[18] On August 30, 2026, a raid on the El Corralón bar detained about 100 people.[19]
Crime statistics
[edit]In January 2026, Trump claimed a 77% reduction in crime; the City of Memphis reported a 44% reduction for the fourth quarter of 2025, and Mayor Young noted that crime had already fallen about 25% before the task force began.[4] At the one-year mark, local data showed a 37% drop in serious crime and a 16% drop in calls for service compared with the period before the task force, but the rate had plateaued after the initial decline.[6] Murders were down 37% since the deployment, following a 27% decline from the 2023 peak before it arrived.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 "Memorandum on Restoring Law and Order in Memphis" (PDF). Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents. 2025 (00916). Office of the Federal Register. September 15, 2025. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Mangual, Rafael A. (July 26, 2026). "Reducing Crime in Memphis". City Journal. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Thomas, Wendi C.; Burgess, Katherine; McMillan, Nick (April 15, 2026). "Just 2% of Immigration Arrests by Memphis Safe Task Force Were for Violent Crime, Records Show". ProPublica. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Anderson, Courtney (September 27, 2026). "One year later: How the Memphis Safe Task Force has impacted the city". ABC24 Memphis. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Hybels, Amy (September 24, 2026). "Memphis Safe Task Force surpasses 13,000 arrests as it nears one-year mark". WREG-TV. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Montgomery, Garner (September 26, 2026). "Memphis Safe Task Force to mark one year, data shows plateau in crime rate". Action News 5. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- 1 2 "Memphis Crime Drops to Historic 25-Year Low Across Major Categories". Memphis Police Department. September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ Redmond, Michaela (September 20, 2026). "Faith leaders demand an end to Memphis Safe Task Force as one-year mark of operations approaches". Action News 5. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ Faguy, Ava (September 12, 2025). "Memphis next US city to see National Guard troops, Trump says". BBC. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ Wilson, Kathryn (September 15, 2025). "Trump signs memo sending federal law enforcement to join Tennessee National Guard in Memphis". CBS News. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ Gallant, Jacob; Redmond, Michaela (September 18, 2025). "'We say no:' Memphis City Council introduces resolution to stop National Guard, Republicans fire back". Action News 5. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ Muckerman, Brooke (September 22, 2025). "How National Guard responses from the Shelby County and Memphis mayors compare". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ Royer, David (October 1, 2025). "White House officials address law enforcement in Memphis". WREG-TV. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ Birsel, Robert (October 2, 2025). "Stephen Miller's Message to Cops Met With Shock, Praise". Newsweek. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Gov. Lee Announces $175 Million in Grant Funds to Strengthen Public Safety Across Tennessee" (Press release). Office of the Governor of Tennessee. October 2, 2025. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ Nguyen, Vivian (March 18, 2026). "President Trump comes to Memphis Monday". WREG-TV. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ "Memphis Safe Task Force hits 1 year with 12,000 violent crime arrests". Fox News. September 2026. Retrieved September 28, 2026.
- ↑ Lonsdorf, Kat (July 27, 2026). "Trump says the Memphis task force is about crime. It's come for immigrants". NPR. Retrieved September 29, 2026.
- ↑ Wadhwani, Anita (September 1, 2026). "Some Memphis businesses push back against Memphis Safe Task Force". Tennessee Lookout. Retrieved September 29, 2026.