FBI Director Kash Patel told Congress on Wednesday that deploying the National Guard to Memphis is necessary to complete the federal government’s law enforcement operation in the city, citing the need for greater manpower and safer perimeters for agents to finish their work amid high crime rates.

Speaking before the House Judiciary Committee, Patel said that while federal agents have made 500 arrests and obtained 110 federal indictments during the first phase of the FBI-led crackdown, agents “can’t work inside perimeters that are not established and safe.”