(The Center Square) – The Memphis Safe Streets Task Force arrested 850 violent criminals and known gang members in its first two weeks, Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday.
The task force has also confiscated 175 illegal firearms, the governor said.
Lee met with the U.S. Marshals Service, which is heading up the operation of more than 30 law enforcement agencies, and other officials. The task force includes the National Guard deployed by second-term Republican President Donald Trump.
In addition to the arrests and firearm seizures, 44 missing children were located, Lee said.
David Rausch, head of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, put the number at 45 because one child was located as they were actively being reported missing. The task force identified 137 children when it began.
Rausch said the vast majority of the children are runaways who are running to something or running from something.
“We’ve got to determine what that is and provide the services to them to help them,” Rausch said.
Some of the children are trafficked, he said.
“And you know, most people understand human trafficking, they see it as something that happens with people being brought in from other countries,” Rausch said. “That’s not the only aspect as a matter of fact, the more popular aspect of human trafficking is these young people who run away and end up getting into situation that they can’t get out of.”
Memphis Mayor Paul Young said he received encouragement from a fifth-grade teacher with students in an apartment complex where some of the operation was taking place.
“Those fifth graders came there and said that they were really excited because they’re now going to be able to play outside all fall,” Young said.
Lee told reporters during a news conference broadcast on local media that the operation would go on “as long as it takes.”
“The way we will measure success obviously is be violent crime and the reduction of that crime,” Lee said. “We’ve just begun. In fact, I will tell you that it will last forever because what we believe will happen is the number of law enforcement agents from different agencies will change depending on the mission at the moment. It will be mission dependent. What we find this week will inform what we do next week.”
The deployment of the National Guard is not without criticism. Recently, a group of veterans has set up a camp in protest of the deployment, according to a post on Instagram.
The camp will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to the post.
