JACKSON, Tenn. (WBBJ) – Violent crime is down nationwide, according to a newly released Crimes in the Nation report. The agency reports the largest year-to-year drop in murder and violent crime in U.S. history, but what does that look like here in West Tennessee?
State law enforcement agencies have spent the last year targeting the people and guns they say are driving violent crime. The FBI says the numbers are moving in the right direction nationwide, but the special agent in charge of the Nashville field office, Terence Reilly, says the work on the ground is far from over.
“And we’ve had a number of hugely successful cases recently with taking down some of the gang shootings that happened in Jackson. We also had a manhunt that concluded in Jackson,” said Reilly.
The Memphis Safe Task Force has resulted in more than 4,500 arrests, 373 guns recovered and multiple cold case homicides solved. Another effort the crime team generated was 489 violent criminal arrests and more than 131 federal indictments but these initiatives aren’t designed to last forever…