Memphis is still on the map for all the wrong reasons, advocates and state investigators say, as the city remains a national human trafficking hot spot and Shelby County is flagged as the most vulnerable area in Tennessee, with thousands of tips hitting the state hotline in 2024. Local groups warn that poverty, housing instability, and Memphis’s placement on major interstates keep demand steady even as new laws and programs try to catch up.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s 2024 Human Trafficking Statistical Report shows the state had received 1,170 calls and tips as of Nov. 17, 2024, with 178 in West Tennessee, 406 in Middle, 208 in East, and 327 in Upper East, and notes that 514 tips involved minors, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The same report found that most leads, 596 of them, came from social service organizations and advocates rather than law enforcement.
Why Shelby County Is Vulnerable
Shelby County still ranks as Tennessee’s highest risk county on a Vulnerable Population Index used to measure susceptibility to trafficking, a finding highlighted by the Memphis Flyer. The city’s geography and local economic strains mean trafficking is concentrated along corridors such as Lamar Avenue, Elvis Presley Boulevard, Summer Avenue, and Chelsea Avenue…