The United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, revealed on Wednesday (October 29) that in the past month, a joint operation conducted by federal law enforcement agencies in Memphis, Tennessee, has rescued approximately 80 missing children and led to the arrest of 1,700 suspects, including 126 gang members.
The Trump administration announced last month that it would deploy the National Guard and federal agents to this Tennessee city. Memphis has long held the top spot in violent crime rates and homicide rates among major US cities.
Bondi stated in a post on X platform that “we will not tolerate crime.” She mentioned that the operations had resulted in gang members being put behind bars, dozens of children rescued, showcasing the effectiveness of cooperation between federal and local law enforcement in quickly restoring safety to American cities.
Bondi added, “In just one month, 1,700 arrests were made – including 126 gang members – our operations in Memphis prove that making American cities safe again is possible.”
The Justice Secretary also shared a Fox News report on X platform, which included a statement detailing the results of the operations. The statement included data showing that law enforcement officers seized a total of 293 firearms during the joint operations.
In mid-September, President Trump signed an order to deploy the National Guard to Memphis. At that time, Trump, in the Oval Office, told reporters that the troops dispatched would join a special task force in the city composed of officials from various federal agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ICE, and US Marshals Service.
He mentioned that the aim of this order is to eliminate crime in the area by federalizing the local police force, similar to measures taken in Washington.
Referring to Washington D.C., Trump said last month, “This task force will be a replica of the extraordinary success we’ve had here. You’ll see, the situation will be very similar, even though the numbers here are truly amazing, it’s really bad there.”
Trump also stated that the FBI had intensified its activities in Memphis, the second-largest city in Tennessee, and assisted in reducing crime. He said, “We are now sending out a major task force.”
Recently, the Trump administration has begun deploying the National Guard to other cities in the US, including Los Angeles and Chicago.
According to analysis by the security website SafeHome.org based on FBI data, in 2024, Memphis had the highest homicide rate among major US cities, with 40.6 murders per 100,000 residents. Baltimore and Detroit followed with 34.8 and 31.2 murders per 100,000 residents, respectively.
Furthermore, West Memphis (a suburb west of Memphis in Arkansas) has been classified as a small city, ranking second in murder rates in the US with 72 murders per 100,000 residents, only surpassed by East Point, Georgia, a suburb southwest of Atlanta, where there are 78.5 murders per 100,000 people.