By Brad Brooks
(Reuters) – The Memphis Police Department is using excessive force and discriminating against black people, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday after an investigation, calling on the Tennessee city’s police to make significant reforms.
A federal investigation began in July 2023, following the death of black driver Tyre Nichols by Memphis police.
Memphis police conduct illegal stops, searches and arrests, discriminate in their responses to people with behavioral disorders and in their treatment of children “who have experienced aggressive and intimidating encounters with police officers,” the report said.
A spokesman for the Memphis Police Department referred requests for comment about the investigation to City Hall. A city hall spokesman said they plan to hold a press conference on Thursday.
Memphis City Attorney Tannera Gibson wrote in a letter to the Department of Justice on Wednesday that city officials are not yet ready to negotiate reforms with the department, saying they need time to review the report’s findings.
Gibson wrote that the investigation “took just 17 months to complete, compared to an average of 2-3 years in almost every other case, implying a rush to judgement.”
The city, Gibson added, cannot yet agree with the Justice Department to “work toward or enter into a consent decree” — a court-approved settlement that typically commits police departments to systematic reforms and often includes oversight by an independent monitor for a set number of years.
In October, a federal jury found three former Memphis police officers guilty of tampering with witnesses in connection with their trial in Nichols’ death. The police officers were acquitted of the most serious charges that could have resulted in life imprisonment. Two other former officers have already pleaded guilty to federal charges and testified against their former colleagues at trial.
The three officers will go on trial for murder in Tennessee state court in April.
The Justice Department acknowledged in a statement that the police had undergone some reforms, but said additional changes were needed to correct the problems it found.
“The people of Memphis deserve a police department and a city that protects their civil and constitutional rights, earns their trust and keeps them safe,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The Justice Department said in a statement that the Memphis Police Department and city officials cooperated fully with the investigation. Federal officials “will meet with members of the Memphis community for input on remedies to address the department’s findings,” it said.
