Memphis Safe - 1 Year Later

For 237 years, the United States Marshals Service (USMS) has answered the call to serve. In September 2025, the agency was directed by President Donald Trump to stand up the Memphis Safe Task Force, a task force intent on rooting out violent crime. 

Marshal Tyreece Miller, U.S. Marshal of the Western District of Tennessee, has more than 30 years in law enforcement and is originally from Jackson, Tennessee, and has overseen the operation and been there since it stood up. 

“We have a very rich history, since 1789 we have been at the forefront of missions you read about in history books from supporting the Union to root out Confederate spies during the Civil War to serving court orders to integrate schools,” Miller said. “Every day we are literally making history, and I think when historians look back on these safe missions that we've done in D.C. and done in Memphis, it's going to go down in that long chronological history of milestones this agency has achieved because we are changing lives and we are saving lives.”

With short notice and during a government shutdown, the USMS rose to the occasion, standing up an operation scaled larger than any before, driving down crime and making streets safer.

“The Marshals Service has been a part of operations before, we've had Operation North Star, Operation Relentless Pursuit, Operation Legend, so doing operations, working with state and local partners is not anything new,” Miller said. “This operation has been like other operations we do, but at a much larger scale.”

Rejecting the notion of crime in Memphis, the task force officers hit the ground running, and the numbers began to stack up, with officers arresting offenders on weapons charges, homicides, and gang involvement. 

As the number of arrests grew, so did the interagency partnerships. During the operation, the team brought together agencies who may have never worked together previously.
Chad Hunt, chief inspector and commander of the Gulf Coast Regional Task Force served as the Memphis Safe Task Force operational commander as it began and for 188 days saw the fruits of these partnerships. 

“A year ago, we were asked to build something that really didn't exist. We brought together people, agencies that normally don't work together that have different missions, different authorities, different cultures, and you're bringing them all together at once in a very short amount of time,” Hunt said. “We ask them really to operate together, to have one common strategic goal, and a year later, we're all very proud of what we’ve achieved.”

The service has learned a lot along the way, facing challenges that come with running a large operation with a limited number of people for an extended period of time. The achievements outweigh the challenges, according to Miller who shared several examples.

“We've recovered over 2,100 firearms, and that's a lot of guns. We will never know how many lives we have saved by the number of guns we recovered,” Miller said. “I think it's really jaw-dropping when you think about the number of firearms that have been recovered, knowing that each particular firearm, there's no telling how many lives have been saved by taking that gun off the street.”

This magnitude of an operation is not achievable by deputies alone, every section of the USMS was part of the success of the operations in Memphis and Washington D.C. This included intelligence and analytic specialists, human resource professionals and procurement specialists. 

This collective effort stood up an operation in a city with an experimental framework where their nation needs them. They worked long hours day in and day out. The toll on the members and families is there, but people become deputies and work for the USMS for a reason- to increase safety in Memphis.

“I have observed firsthand the remarkable work of the operational and administrative employees who have come from across this agency,” Miller said. “They have a can-do attitude; they are focused on the mission. They have missed significant time away from their family. They work through holidays. They spend many days and many nights away from their families, all to improve the way of life for the people of this great city. And it's been a huge sacrifice.” 

The numbers show the successes the task force has forged, and Hunt and Miller say they regularly hear from the people of Memphis that their confidence in the safety and security of their city, their home, has blossomed. 

“We are witnessing in real time the citizens of Memphis realizing that they are no longer suppressed by crime,” Miller said. “They can go out and enjoy their community without fear of being a victim of a crime.”

The community support has been a critical factor in the mission’s success.

“Thanks to the people in the community, the local state government that have supported the mission, that have provided resources,” Hunt said. “It's not just the government or local law enforcement, but also the citizens. It was never lost on me that Memphis is their home. We're guests in their city.”

The task force’s work is not yet finished, and they continue to adapt and flex to the threats. 

“We just continue to develop strategies to figure out how we sustain the gains that have been that have been met, how to keep the momentum going,” Miller said. “We have to adapt because the criminal element, they have adapted to what we're doing and they are paying attention.”

“The need is still there for the citizens of Memphis, and we're making sure that the personnel that are deployed are used in the most positive way to the citizens of Memphis,” Hunt said. “The goal is for all of us to create some sort of sustainable public safety capacity and partnerships. And while we've achieved a lot of that, our obligation still remains the same.”

Throughout the last year, officers have made 12,796 arrests, including 131 for homicide, 1,367 for controlled substances, 1,279 for firearms violations, and 125 for sex offenses. Of those arrested, 414 were juveniles and 1,415 were known gang members. The task force has seized 2,163 illegal firearms. These enforcement actions reflect a sustained commitment to reducing violent crime and removing dangerous weapons from Memphis neighborhoods.