MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A pastor is pushing back on claims that his city is America's "murder capital," arguing that national crime statistics and media rhetoric distort reality.
"Memphis is not the murder capital of the United States," Pastor Keith Norman of First Baptist Church Broad in Memphis told Fox News Digital. "I don't find Memphis to be a threatening place at all. I find it to be a place that I love to call home."
When FBI Director Kash Patel described Memphis as the "homicide capital of America" in May, Norman bristled.
"When you take a high-profile person … to come out and say it in a national forum on a national news program, it really does have a negative impact," Norman said. It affects the economy, tourism and the "mental narrative of the people who want to visit this space or people who actually live in this space."
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Pastor Keith Norman of First Baptist Church Broad in Memphis pushed back on the "murder capital" label, while acknowledging the city’s crime challenges. He praised local police and called for more resources focused on prevention through education and jobs. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital.)
Tennessee's second-most populous city has long struggled with high crime, and in May Patel said it had the most homicides per capita in the country. In response, the FBI sent more than a dozen special agents and intelligence personnel to Memphis this summer to assist local law enforcement.
"The FBI has worked aggressively with our partners in Tennessee to establish a dedicated task force and deploy resources to tackle crime in Memphis. While this operation remains ongoing, we are committed to delivering results and look forward to sharing them with the American people," Patel previously told Fox News Digital.
Tennessee Highway Patrol has also enhanced operations in the city, targeting reckless driving, illegal weapons and narcotics.
Norman said he and other residents appreciate state troopers' increased presence.
"The visibility and the consistency are the two most positive things," he said. "When there is communication between all of these branches of law enforcement, there are better opportunities to saturate and to get the bad elements off the street."
But he pushed back on the perception of Memphis as America's most dangerous city, arguing that federal data doesn't measure crime consistently across metropolitan areas, and can be framed to fit different narratives.
Murders and other violent crimes have been trending down in Memphis, though the city still accounted for almost half of Tennessee’s 583 reported murders last year, police said. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital.)
Alaska recorded the nation’s highest violent crime rate last year, according to an Axios analysis of FBI data. Memphis ranked first for violent crime overall, but among large cities specifically, it had the fourth-highest murder rate per 100,000 residents — behind Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; and St. Louis, Missouri.
Eight of the top 10 big cities with the highest murder rates were in Republican-led states, Axios reported, but all but one of those cities are run by Democratic mayors.
The red-blue divide has become amplified as President Donald Trump threatens to send National Guard troops to liberal cities like Chicago, Baltimore and Oakland in Democrat-led states.
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Asked in late August whether he would consider sending the Guard to cities in Republican-led states with high crime, Trump said, "Sure, but there aren't that many of them."
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital that she would welcome troops in her state.
"Blue cities like Memphis need all the help they can get to combat violent crime," Blackburn said in a statement.
Amid the political back-and-forth, Memphis police say the city is getting safer.
Murder, shooting incidents, robbery, assault and overall crime reports are down in Memphis this year compared to 2024, according to police data.
Last year, homicides were already trending down, although Memphis still accounted for nearly half (250) of Tennessee’s 583 murders, according to the state Bureau of Investigation’s annual "Crime in Tennessee" report.
Troopers regularly seize guns and drugs around Memphis. Some of the firearms have been linked to murders and other shootings, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
Each of those deaths is a tragedy, Norman said, and the result of deeper problems beyond policing — including poverty, lack of education, unemployment and easy access to guns.
"There are so many things that we can do in a positive way," Norman said. "But if we just say, ‘Memphis has a crime problem and Memphis has a murder problem,’ and we don't look at the possible resources that we can bring federally and from a state level, then we'll be repeating this narrative for many years."
Even as crime statistics improve, people won't feel safer until the police and the media describe Memphis differently, he argued.
"One of the positives that I'm hearing is when we report when there were no crimes over the weekend or when we message it differently," he said.
"Memphis is a great place to live, to work, to relax, play and worship," he added. "I see those potentials and great possibilities still rising day by day."