Shelby County DA calls senator’s claims ‘misleading’ as federal prosecutor reports 300% caseload increase

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy responded on camera for the first time to a U.S. senator’s letter accusing his office of being soft on crime, as new figures show more than 6,600 people have been arrested by the Memphis Safe Task Force since October — with only 251 charged federally.

Arrests outpacing federal charges

U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant disclosed the arrest figures Tuesday at a Memphis Rotary luncheon. Dunavant said his office has charged 251 of what he described as the “worst of the worst” criminals arrested by the task force.

“The President has made it very clear that he intends to break the cycle of violent crime once and for all here in Memphis, make Memphis much safer,” Dunavant said. “I think we’re well on the way to doing that.”

Dunavant said his office has seen a 300 percent caseload increase as a result of the task force operations. To address the surge, the federal government deployed 20 military attorneys to assist with prosecutions.

“20 new special assistant United States Attorneys were deployed from the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy to my office and they are assistant U.S. Attorneys to help us work on nothing but Memphis Safe Task Force Operations,” Dunavant said.

Jail overcrowding at 201 Poplar

Both Dunavant and Mulroy confirmed that the majority of the 6,600-plus people arrested by the task force are being processed at 201 Poplar, the Shelby County criminal justice complex. “Some of them may be immigration cases and they would go elsewhere, but we’re talking about the vast majority, over 80% are going to be going to be handled by our system,” the Shelby County D.A. noted.

“I’d also like to see some more federal help on the back end,” Mulroy said. “We’ve got this huge surge in arrests. The jail is already overcrowded. Now it’s ridiculously overcrowded. I’d love to have some help on the back end as well.”

Dunavant said limited grant options are available through the Department of Justice and encouraged local officials to contact elected representatives for additional support.

Mulroy disputes Blackburn letter

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn sent a letter to Mulroy last week alleging that Shelby County released “hundreds of criminal defendants with little or no punishment” in recent months. Mulroy called that characterization misleading.

“Those people that didn’t get prison time, either they had nonviolent cases or no significant criminal records, or they had already done significant jail time for that same offense or the judge gave them probation or diversion without our agreement,” Mulroy said. “And that context is completely lacking from the Senator Blackburn letter, unfortunately.”

When asked whether he found the Blackburn letter correct and accurate, Dunavant said he had not validated its data.

“I’ve seen the letter. I don’t know. I haven’t really studied or researched or validated the data,” Dunavant said.

Dunavant said the Memphis Safe Task Force is a permanent operation.

“It is making a true difference, a positive difference in public safety here,” he said.

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