Gov. Bill Lee announced on Friday that the Memphis Safe Task Force operation will start next week.
The governor stated personnel from 13 law enforcement agencies will be in Memphis, with the U.S. Marshals leading the task force.
Federal law enforcement agents will be coming to the city to begin their collaboration with state and local law enforcement, according to the governor.
The operation will occur in phases over the “next weeks and months,” he said, calling it a “sustained effort.”
To help with this operation, Tennessee will be providing Memphis with an additional $100 million in grant funds for public safety, Lee stated.
Furthermore, the Tennessee Highway Patrol will have “over 300 troopers” who will be working in the Memphis region, Lee said.
The additional troopers will mean that there will always be at least 100 troopers in the Memphis area, the governor noted.
With the operation, Tennessee National Guard troops will be deployed in the city.
Lee said the Tennessee National Guard, deputized by the U.S. Marshals, will play a “critical support role” to local law enforcement in the city.
“They will serve as a force multiplier to the Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Department,” the governor said.
National Guard members will not be making arrests, Lee stated. He added that the guard members would not be armed unless local law enforcement made that request.
The governor said it is not known how many personnel members will be on the ground in Memphis, with those numbers needing to “be determined by need.”
Tennessee will not be declaring a state of emergency, but rather this is a Title 32 operation, the governor noted. A Title 32 operation allows National Guard members to be deployed under federal authority while remaining under the control of their respective governors.
Lee stated an American city has never had “access to the level of resources” that is being made available to Memphis.
President Donald Trump “understands” cities like Memphis “need federal resources,” the governor said.
Lee thanked the president for providing the federal resources needed to tackle crime in Tennessee’s second-largest city.
According to the governor, this operation needs to be done “for the people who live in Memphis.”
The “story of crime in Memphis” will be a “story of the past,” he explained.
This week, federal law enforcement announced it made almost 500 arrests and more than 130 federal indictments.
The Hill reported that FBI data showed Memphis had the highest violent crime rate in America last year.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “National Guard Members” by The National Guard.
