‘It will last forever:’ Gov. Bill Lee says safe Task Force will remain in Memphis as long as it takes

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Tennessee Governor Bill Lee spoke at a conference on Tuesday, where he said the Memphis Safe Task Force will “last forever,” and it will continue as long as it takes.

“We will execute on this operation as long as it takes. The way we will measure success, obviously, is by violent crime and the reduction of that crime. We’ve just begun. We do know that this is going to last for months, and we have just begun. In fact, I will tell you that it will last forever,” Lee said.

The press conference was held at Forward Operating Base on Haley Road, where Gov. Lee, Mayor Paul Young, and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch met with task force agents.

Gov. Lee announced at the presser:

• 850 violent criminals and gang members were arrested.
• 175 firearms were confiscated
• 44 missing children have been found (A 45th was also found as he/she was actively being reported missing)

These numbers follow from Monday’s Department of Justice numbers, stating the task force has made 803 arrests so far and 173 firearms have been seized.

Governor Lee says that he’s encouraged by the work done so far.

Mayor Young also spoke at the press conference, and he said the Memphis Police Department will be amplified now that there is additional help and that arrest warrants are being worked on.

Mayor Young also mentioned the drag racing incident involving two MPD officers, and the department is addressing the issue internally.

It was also mentioned that the Tennessee Highway Patrol is stopping speeders, drag racers, drivers with expired tags, non-working headlights, etc., so Memphis police can go to other needed locations.

Gov. Lee says his team has been working closely with homeland security, the FBI, the Department of Children’s Services and local school districts on recovering missing children.

TBI Director David Rausch spoke with Action News 5’s Michaela Redmond after the press conference on their missing children operation.

“The more popular aspect of human trafficking is these young people who run away and end up getting into situations that they can’t get out of, and they end up in a trafficking situation,” Rausch said.

Director Rausch says they’ve identified 137 missing children, and 44 of those children have been found. Another child was located as they were actively being reported missing.

Rausch added that some of the people who were keeping the children are being charged. The youngest children found have been as young as 8 and 9 years old. Most of the missing children are around 16 years old.

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