Thousands of arrests by Trump’s task force in Memphis strain crowded jail and courts

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A task force charged by President Donald Trump to combat crime in Memphis, Tennessee, has made thousands of arrests, adding to strain on the local justice system and an already overcrowded jail in a way that officials worry will last for months, if not years, as the cases unfold.

Since late September, hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel linked to the Memphis Safe Task Force have conducted traffic stops, executed arrest warrants and searched for fugitives in the city of about 610,000. More than 2,800 people were arrested and more than 28,000 traffic citations were issued, according to data provided by the task force and Memphis police.

The task force, which includes National Guard troops, is backed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee and others who hope the increase will reduce crime in a city struggling with violent crime, including nearly 300 homicides last year and nearly 400 in 2023.

From 2018 to 2024, homicides in Memphis increased 33% and aggravated assaults increased 41%, according to AH Datalytics, which tracks crimes across the country using local law enforcement data for its real-time crime index. But AH Datalytics reported that those numbers were down 20% in the first nine months of this year, even before the task force got to work.

Opponents of the task force in the majority-black Memphis area say it targets minorities and intimidates law-abiding Latinos, some of whom have missed work and changed their social habits, such as avoiding going to church or restaurants, fearing harassment and unjust detention. Statistics released at the end of October show 319 arrests so far based on administrative warrants dealing with immigration-related matters.

The effects spread beyond the streets, to the aging criminal courthouse and struggling jail. Officials are concerned about long waits in traffic court, leading to missed work, and heavy criminal court dockets, forcing inmates to spend additional days waiting for their bail hearings.

“The human cost is staggering,” said Josh Spickler, executive director of Just City, a Memphis-based organization that advocates for fairness in the criminal justice system.

The mayor of Shelby County, which includes Memphis, has asked more judges to hear cases that could stretch for months or even years. County officials are considering opening courts at night and on weekends, a move that would help manage caseloads but would cost more.

Meanwhile, inmates at the Shelby County Jail are being transferred to other facilities due to overcrowding, officials say. Inmates at the jail sleep in chairs, and jail officials are asking county commissioners for funds to help solve problems, such as a shortage of jail employees.

These issues are raising concerns from activists and officials about safety at a prison that has seen 65 deaths since 2019, according to Just City. Trial backlogs mean defendants and victims of crime could spend an unfair amount of time dealing with the criminal justice system, said Steve Mulroy, the county attorney.

“Deploying the task force probably would have required more planning,” said Mulroy, a Democrat whose office is cooperating with the task force. “More thought could have been given to the downstream effects of the increase in the number of arrests. »

There were hundreds more jail bookings and bail releases during the task force’s first weeks of operation compared to the comparable period last year, an increase of about 40 percent in each category, according to county statistics.

The prison, which has a regular capacity of 2,400, had an average daily population of 3,195 inmates in September, the most recent month for which statistics were available. County officials said that number is expected to increase for October.

As of mid-November, 250 excess inmates were housed in other facilities, up from 80 in November 2024. Some of them are outside Shelby County, making it more difficult for lawyers and relatives to visit and increasing the cost of transporting defendants to Memphis for hearings.

In a letter to commissioners, Chief Jailer Kirk Fields requested at least $1.5 million in emergency funds, emphasizing that more inmates means more expenses for food, clothing, bedding and linens.

One question is whether there are enough judges to hear cases, especially after lawmakers eliminated two judge positions during last year’s session.

On October 31, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris wrote to state judicial officials requesting additional judges, saying the county was preparing for the arrest of at least 3,500 to 5,000 people. More arrests increase prison spending and the possible hiring of more public defenders, prosecutors and prison employees, he wrote.

“This places Shelby County in an extremely perilous financial situation,” Harris wrote.

The Tennessee Supreme Court’s response says that while lower court judges have said more judges are not needed at this time, it has designated two senior judges to help if needed.

“Part of it is understanding what the cadence is going to look like over the next few months and then strategizing,” the governor said earlier this month, noting the state was monitoring the situation.

Some officials have proposed Saturday hearings and night hearings two or three evenings a week, Mulroy said. They considered creating a clinic where people with misdemeanor arrest warrants could go, to help clear them up.

Mulroy’s office is also reevaluating whether detention is necessary for people jailed in hundreds of low-profile cases.

“If there is no reason to believe they are a danger to the community or a flight risk, and they are there simply because they can’t pay their bail, we can take a second look,” he wrote.

Ryan Guay, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service and the task force, told The Associated Press that the high volume of arrests reflects the effectiveness of the force.

“We recognize that this success places additional demands on the entire criminal justice system, including courts and detention facilities,” Guay said.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it was making a satellite prison camp available to the task force. The office said the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office will assume oversight of the facility. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office declined to comment on the location of the camp, citing operational security.

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Associated Press reporter Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.