A Memphis mother says 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, Im walking to my mailbox and its quiet,” Dalisia Ballinger told Fox News Digital. “Im hearing the birds chirp. Im hearing the birds sing. Im seeing children play in the middle of the street. Im 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 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.
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“Public safety should not be up for debate,” Ballinger said. “I dont care if you are a Republican. I dont 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.Â
The administration also credited the task force with taking 2,160 illegal guns off the streets and recovering 189 missing children.
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Overall crime in Memphis fell nearly 36% compared with the previous year, while murders dropped 36%, robberies fell 42% and vehicle thefts plunged 57%, according to figures released by the White House. City data had already shown crime falling before the task force arrived, and the statistics do not establish how much of the decline resulted directly from the federal surge.
“That era is over. President Trump rejected the excuses, restored law and order, and once again proved that decline is a choice,” the White House said.
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Ballinger said the change became personal when her children could play outdoors without the constant fear that had gripped her neighborhood.
She recalled a shooting four houses away in which she said roughly 30 gunshots struck a home occupied by a grandmother and her grandchildren. The family never returned, she said, leaving the property overtaken by grass and weeds.
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