One year after the Memphis Safe Task Force's arrival, questions about its impact, transparency, and future persist, even as crime continues to decline across the city.
The task force's first year was a focus this week on WKNO/Channel 10's "Behind the Headlines," where host Eric Barnes was joined by the Memphis Flyer's Toby Sells and Daily Memphian reporters Aarron Fleming, Mary Cashiola, and Bill Dries. The group also discussed local efforts to regulate data centers and plans for a new Regional One hospital.
A year after the task force arrived in Memphis, the journalists said the conversation is increasingly turning to what happens next. Dries said adjustments are likely as the task force enters its second year, though what will change remains unclear. Dries also mentioned that the midterm elections could significantly affect the task force and similar efforts in other cities, particularly as immigration becomes a larger local and national campaign issue.
The roundtable also examined how much credit the task force should receive for Memphis' falling crime rates. Barnes cited figures from the Memphis Crime Commission showing notable reductions in crime through the end of June, with major property crime down 40% and violent crime down 30% year over year. But Sells noted that crime was already declining before the federal initiative began, making the task force's precise impact difficult to determine.
"So, we can't cleanly say the task force lowered crime in Memphis," Sells said. "It came at a time when it was already [falling]. How much would that have been with the task force, without the task force? We don't know. We'll never know that. . ."
A year into the effort, questions about transparency also remain. Barnes raised concerns about how much information is available about task force operations, while Sells described difficulties journalists have had obtaining records and answers. He said reporters have sometimes turned to court records and residents to piece together information about the task force's activities.
The conversation later turned to another issue facing Memphis officials: how the city should regulate data centers.
Dries said several Memphis City Council members, led by J.B. Smiley, have proposed a one-year moratorium on new data centers while the city developed guidelines. Competing proposals from Jeff Warren and Philip Spinosa would instead establish regulations without imposing a moratorium, leaving council members to work through the different approaches.
Cashiola said the debate is complicated by the wide range of facilities that fall under the data center label.
"I think in some cases people are thinking that every data center is Colossus. Every data center is Elon Musk coming to town," Cashiola said, noting that smaller projects also operate or are being developed in Memphis. "And I think there is probably some sense out there that we need a more nuanced approach."
North Mississippi communities are confronting similar questions. Fleming said Olive Branch changed its ordinances to address data centers, establishing different categories largely based on size and setting requirements involving issues such as noise, water, and electricity use. The journalists also discussed the possibility that the Tennessee General Assembly could take up the issue when lawmakers return to Nashville in January.
The roundtable closed with questions about how the proposed new Regional One hospital, estimated to cost roughly $1 billion, will ultimately be funded. Cashiola said funding could potentially come from the state, Shelby County, or private donors, but no clear funding plan has emerged.
Barnes noted that work connected to the project is already moving forward, including demolition of the former Commercial Appeal building and ongoing consulting expenses, despite the uncertainty surrounding funding. “At the end of the day, how are we going to pay for it?” Barnes said. “We just don't know.”