About a month after the Memphis Police Department established its new fugitive unit in February, a group of residents at a local apartment complex were relieved when a much-awaited arrest was made.

The residents were getting fed up with a particularly worrisome neighbor who was wanted for aggravated assault related to domestic violence. 

They worked with detectives from the Fugitive Unit to facilitate the arrest of the individual. When the arrest was made, the residents were elated.

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“They actually brought us refreshments, they brought us lemonade, they brought us water,” said Major Willie Mathena, commander of the unit. “And we all sat around and we talked. So that was one of our best moments. Because the safety of the citizens of Memphis is paramount.”

The unit became operational Feb. 22 as part of a crime-reduction strategy conceived by MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, who was sworn-in as chief last June. Along with the Fugitive Unit, the strategy also included the establishment of the Auto Theft Task Force and the SCORPION Unit. 

A collective approach

“Everything that we do is about crime suppression,” said Mathena, who supervises all three units. “We’ve taken a collective approach with each unit to suppress crime.”

On Thursday, June 7, MPD reported an increase of Part 1 crimes — which are serious crimes such as homicides, assaults, carjackings and auto thefts — by 12.4% from the year before. Crimes that are up include auto theft, burglaries and robberies.

The goal of the suppression strategy is to reduce those crimes by 5% this year. 

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According to MPD, aggravated assaults are down 9.4% from last year, and homicides have decreased by 7%.

Before it began its own Fugitive Unit, MPD worked with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals and other agencies to catch wanted fugitives. 

Part of this involved embedding task force officers from MPD in the U.S. Marshals and SCSO fugitive units. 

Collaboration is key

If a fugitive escaped justice but stayed within city limits, SCSO’s fugitive unit would apprehend the suspect. The U.S. Marshals would catch fugitives who crossed the county line. 

While those partnerships will still exist, the new unit now allows MPD to pursue fugitives on its own, making way for a more focused approach that augments other existing strategies within the department.

In addition to catching its own fugitives, MPD can assist other agencies by apprehending fugitives who escape into its jurisdiction.

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It takes a multi-pronged approach to address the crime in Memphis, Assistant Chief of Police Services Shawn L. Jones said.

“Whenever you deal with a crime and a crime strategy, it has to be a layered approach,” Jones said. “It’s never a single approach. If you use a singular approach, you’re gonna miss it. You’re gonna miss some things.”

Jones compared the layered approach to someone locking doors, using security cameras and having an alarm system to keep their home safer from burglaries.

“The more complicated you make it, it makes it difficult for the offender to be able to avoid being captured,” Jones said.

Currently, Jones estimates MPD is looking for around 300 fugitives. 

So far, the Fugitive Unit has apprehended at least 133 suspects, according to MPD. Of those, 125 were felony warrant arrests. 

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Suspects who have been apprehended include Tabitha Mofatt, who allegedly helped carjack a man in Southwest Memphis, and Maceo Boyd, who was arrested in Memphis under suspicion for his part in a killing in Murfreesboro. 

Catching fugitives requires strategizing and using a data-driven approach. Each Thursday, MPD meets during a concept meeting, where they look at crime trends and identify potential offenders or fugitives.

Targeting

“Do we know whether or not a warrant is on that offender? If that offender is adversely impacting that area, then our fugitive unit can target to find that individual to bring them into custody,” Jones said.

The unit looks for suspects who are repeat offenders who commit crimes such as homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and carjackings. 

“Typically, individuals that we see who may commit aggravated assault are committing aggravated assault on multiple people,” Jones said. “So they really are a nuisance for the community. And the sooner we get them off (the streets), hopefully what we’re going to do is to mitigate homicides occurring as a result.” 

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Despite their best efforts, some trends are not encouraging. For example, as of June 7, carjackings were up 57% from the year before. The Fugitive Unit leaders are looking at partnering with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to target such crimes.

Officers in the unit participate in a week of classroom training and an additional 30 days of on-the-job training. 

They also train with SCSO Fugitive Bureau senior leaders for two days. 

Then they train with the U.S. Marshals for three days during an “Officer Safety Training for High-Risk Apprehensions” class alongside deputy U.S. marshals and task force members from other agencies. 

Training with the U.S. Marshals covers safety and common tactic training to learn how to minimize risk when apprehending fugitives.

“There’s risk associated with arresting and apprehending dangerous fugitives,” said U.S. Marshal Tyreece Miller. “So as we go out and train together in this partnership, they may call upon us for assistance, or we may call upon them for assistance. So it’s good to have common tactics there.” 

Training, training training

Officers will receive refresher training every two weeks or every month.

While training and strategizing help tremendously, Mathena said one of the most crucial parts of getting fugitives off the streets involves help from the community.

“I would like the citizens of Memphis to know that we need them,” Mathena said. “We need their continued support.”

Citizens who wish to report crimes or the location of fugitives can call (901) 528-CASH. Callers can call anonymously and receive a reward up to $2,000. 

To view some of Memphis’ most-wanted fugitives, visit the Memphis Most Wanted webpage.