A Memphis mother says President Donald Trump’s federal crime crackdown silenced the gunfire that years of pleas to local leaders could not and finally allowed her children to play outside."For once, I’m walking to my mailbox and it’s quiet," Dalisia Ballinger told Fox News Digital."I’m hearing the birds chirp.
I’m hearing the birds sing.I’m seeing children play in the middle of the street.
I’m seeing fathers playing football."The striking turnaround turned Ballinger, a former journalist and violent-crime victim, into one of the most outspoken supporters of the Memphis Safe Task Force as the operation marks one year on the ground.It also put her at the center of a growing clash with Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, a Democrat whose lawsuit against two new state oversight laws has sparked a petition demanding that he abandon the legal fight and disclose how his office handles cases generated by the task force.FORMER CHICAGO DETECTIVE SAYS ONE CITY'S MURDER PLUNGE OFFERS WINDY CITY CRIME BLUEPRINA Memphis Police Department officer, right, patrols with members of the National Guard, Friday, Oct.10, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn.
(George Walker IV/AP Photo)"Public safety should not be up for debate," Ballinger said."I don’t care if you are a Republican.
I don’t care if you are a Democrat."Trump established the multi-agency operation through a presidential memorandum on Sept.15, 2025, ordering federal, state and local authorities to coordinate against street and violent crime in Memphis.
The task force is led by the U.S.Marshals Service and includes mobilized members of the Tennessee National Guard.The White House said Tuesday that the operation had produced 12,747 arrests as of Sept.
15, including 131 homicide arrests, 1,276 firearms arrests and 1,408 arrests of known gang members. The administration also credited the task force with taking 2,160 illegal guns off the streets and recovering 189 missing children.FBI ANNOUNCES 305 ARRESTS, 24 ...