MEMPHIS, Tenn. — According to U.S. Marshals, the Memphis Safe Task Force has cleared over 1,000 Memphis warrants, in addition to locating and safely returning 101 missing children as of Nov. 9.
Warrant charges include homicide, narcotics, firearms and sex offenses, among others. Authorities say this includes 203 firearm warrants and 264 narcotics warrants.
The Task Force has arrested 2,342 individuals on various charges, according to U.S Marshals.
“Over 1,000 warrants cleared in 41 days is quick work and we aren’t slowing down,” said U.S. Marshals Service Operation Commander Chad Hunt. “We will continue to investigate each warrant we adopt and arrest the assailants to make Memphis and Shelby County a safer place to live.”
The U.S. Marshals Service Missing Child Unit is assisting local and state authorities in investigating the missing child cases. The missing children were all found in the past 40 days.
“We are happy that we have been able to use our fugitive hunting skills to assist local and state authorities with finding these missing children.,” said Emily Williams, U.S. Marshals Spokesperson. “What a testament to our partnerships to be able to work these cases together. While investigative work is tedious, locating missing and endangered children is one of the things we are most proud of.”
The task force has also taken 389 illegal guns off the streets.
The Shelby County sheriff says the jail has had trouble processing the uptick in inmates.
“When we were notified that the surge was going to occur, we started talking to the national marshals services, telling them that we weren’t prepared for this but we couldn’t stop it and we couldn’t delay it, they said it was going to happen,” explained Sheriff Floyd Bonner. “We’ve been scrambling for a month now trying to get contracts signed and going back and forth with attorneys.”
WREG’s network station got an up close look at the Memphis Safe Task Force in neighborhoods, including the equipment and resources they have at their disposal.
A 21-year-old who had a warrant for assault and vandalism was targeted by U.S. Marshals who surrounded his home. Karolina Duda, a deputy U.S. Marshal, said the man was not combative when encountered by agents inside his home.
“The 21-year-old target had several arrest warrants,” Duda explained. “We were able to work with his mom who allowed us entry to the house, she brought the keys. We utilized several federal agencies to make the initial entry and have the subject in custody.”
The Memphis Safe Task Force is made up of 31 local, state, and federal agencies with multiple
teams working state and federal warrants.
U.S. Marshals provided the following list of Memphis Safe Task Force agencies:
- U.S. Marshals Service (USMS)
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF)
- Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
- Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Federal Protective Service (FPS)
- Health and Human Services (HHS)
- Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Memphis Police Department (MPD) – Surge
- Memphis Police Department (MPD) – Patrol
- Offices of Inspector General (OIG) – from nine agencies
- Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO)
- Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC)
- Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI)
- Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC)
- Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP)
- Tennessee National Guard
- Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency (TWRA)
- U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO)
- U.S. Probation Office (USPO)