Trump Memo
President Donald Trump’s crime plan for Memphis, a city he said is “suffering from tremendous levels of violent crime,” includes 13 federal agencies and the Tennessee National Guard and targets everything from immigration to traffic violations.
Here’s what you need to know:
• National Guard:
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee will pick the number of troops deployed here. He’ll decide how long they will stay.
• Why? Background from the memo:
“The city of Memphis, Tennessee, is suffering from tremendous levels of violent crime that have overwhelmed its local government’s ability to respond effectively. This situation has become dire in one of our nation’s most historic cities.
“The city, a beacon of American culture that was Elvis’ home and is often called the birthplace of rock and roll and the blues, should be safe and secure for all of its citizens and Americans who visit its historic landmarks such as Graceland, Beale Street, and the Memphis Pyramid.”
• Name: “Memphis Safe Task Force”
• What it will do: “end street and violent crime in Memphis to the greatest possible extent through the promotion and facilitation of hypervigilant policing, aggressive prosecution, complex investigations, financial enforcement, and large-scale saturation of besieged neighborhoods with law enforcement personnel …”
• What crimes?
illegal immigration, applicable quality-of-life, nuisance, and public-safety laws, assault, battery, larceny, graffiti, vandalism, unpermitted disturbances and demonstrations, noise, trespassing, public intoxication, drug possession and sale, vagrancy, traffic violations
State Dismantling DEI
A legislative committee voted last week to remove references to women, minorities, people with disabilities, and veterans from Tennessee’s equal employment opportunity plan, which has long guided the state in tracking its own employment practices and rectifying discriminatory practices.
Beginning October 7th, Tennessee will no longer formally track or publicly report on the demographics of individuals interviewed, hired, or promoted to jobs in the executive branch of state government.
Also eliminated is a requirement that state agencies take steps to recruit, promote, and hire women and minorities if they are underrepresented in the state government workforce.
MSCS Enrollment Down
Student enrollment in Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) has declined by over 9 percent in the past decade, far outpacing statewide and national trends.
MSCS lost more than 10,000 students in its traditional and charter schools between 2014 and 2024, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of data from the Tennessee Department of Education. Throughout Tennessee, public school enrollment dropped by just under 2.5 percent in the 2014 to 2024 time frame, which mirrors national rates.
It’s not clear exactly where local students have gone in recent years, with total enrollment dropping from around 116,000 to 105,000 in the decade span. Some nearby suburban districts have grown since a controversial 2014 “de-merger” where six smaller independent school systems broke off from the county district.
Tennessee Lookout and Chalkbeat Tennessee contributed other this report.
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