By Sen. Marsha Blackburn
One year ago this month, Tennessee marked an incredible milestone: the one-year anniversary of President Trump signing the memorandum to establish the Memphis Safe Task Force. Since then, this historic, iconic city has transformed for the better.
Just two years ago, Memphis was the most dangerous city in America, suffering the nation’s highest violent crime rate. To get this crisis under control, I met with now-FBI Director Patel ahead of his Senate confirmation vote and urged him to surge federal law enforcement to the city. During last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, I had the chance to talk with Director Patel about all that the task force has accomplished — and the numbers speak for themselves.
Within the last year, overall crime has fallen 36 percent, with burglaries and aggravated assaults down 27 percent, robberies down 43 percent, shoplifting down 44 percent, motor vehicle thefts down 57 percent, and murders down 35 percent. By coordinating operations among more than two-dozen local, state, and federal agencies, the Task Force has made more than 12,800 arrests, recovered more than 2,100 illegal firearms, apprehended more than 1,400 known ...