Criminal justice advocates believe that the effectiveness of the Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF) cannot be measured on arrests alone.
Memphis Crime Beat, a nonprofit dedicated to help citizens better understand crime in Memphis through data collection, wrote a letter to the task force along with city, state, and federal officials urging transparency and accountability in tracking arrest outcomes.
“Our organization has been diligently trying to provide transparency and accountability to both law enforcement and our justice system, but we cannot do this without access to data,” Memphis Crime Beat said. “Please encourage our local agencies to make public data public and/or track and report on the outcome of these arrests.”
In their letter, the organization noted that it is imperative to the public to know what steps are taken following arrests made by the task force.
The group noted that making arrests is “only the first step to reducing crime,” and that the cases must be carried out through prosecution.
In their letter, Memphis Crime Beat cited an individual arrested by the MSTF. Through information compiled from the Shelby County judicial court provided by the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts they were able to find that the person’s case was heard in court and included aggravated assault charges, reckless endangerment committed with a deadly weapon, vandalism of $1000 or less, possession of a handgun as a convicted felon, and more.
“[They] were released with $0 bond (release on own recognizance) and subsequently all they chargers were dismissed due to lack of prosecution,” Memphis Crime Beat said.
The individual also has an open case from June 25, 2023 that included aggravated assault, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, being in possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, and vandalism of $1,000 or less.
They posted a $50,000 bond early this year. Shortly after being released on bond, two more cases were opened against them. One case included charges of second degree murder with a $400,000 bond ,while the other included a charge of first degree murder with no bond set.
While the city has made violent warrants and overall arrests public through their dashboard, there is currently no additional information regarding the outcome of these arrests.
President Donald Trump’s administration along with Governor Bill. Lee have touted the task force’s arrests as proof of their effectiveness. However, data analysts and other criminal justice advocates have noted flaws in both statistics and the overall success of the force.
Josh Spickler, executive director of Just City, says that the task force is being used as a political tool instead of addressing Memphis’ “violent crime problem.”
“The Task Force is an entity of law enforcement officers who are carrying out some mission on the streets of Memphis,” Spickler said. “I’m not sure any of us know what they’re tasked with doing — which is another problem.”
According to the city of Memphis a number of federal agencies have been dispatched in addition to the National Guard. These agencies such as the United States Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) have been dispatched to “provide specialized support.”
Spickler noted that there are two components to the story — the people making the arrests and the court system that receives those arrested. Arrest information is generated daily, regardless if it is an MSTF arrest or an arrest by another law enforcement agency.
“The problem is, there’s no designation of a ‘Task Force’ arrest,” Spickler said. “The numbers that the task force — or its political representatives — are giving us are propaganda. They’re being given to us to reinforce a false narrative that [the MSTF] is about violent crime.”
According to a presidential memorandum issued on September 15, Trump said the task force’s objective is to end street and violent crime through “hypervigilant policing, aggressive prosecution, complex investigations, financial enforcement, and large-scale saturation of besieged neighborhoods” in coordination with other personnel.
The Task Force’s reported effectiveness is elevated by the intentional use of words such as “known gang members, violent criminals, and violent illegal aliens,” Spickler added. He said this is used to further promote an agenda to make Memphis look like a city in need of a military occupation.
