The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division (CRD) last week announced it would terminate and retract the findings of the Biden administration’s multiple investigations into various law enforcement agencies for alleged civil rights abuses, including the Memphis Police Department (MPD), which was urged last year to enter into a consent decree with the federal government.
A DOJ press release announced the decision last Wednesday. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the move would reverse a “failed experiment” undertaken by officials working under former President Joe Biden.
“Overbroad police consent decrees divest local control of policing from communities where it belongs, turning that power over to unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, often with an anti-police agenda,” said Dhillon.
She added, “Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Division’s failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees.”
The Biden-era DOJ began investigating MPD in July 2023, and last year concluded its investigation, when former Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke claimed the CRD had discovered patterns of using excessive force, making illegal traffic stops, and discrimination against black Memphians and those with disabilities.
While the DOJ recommended that Memphis enter into a consent decree with the federal government, which would give oversight of the police department to a DOJ official, local officials cited the cost accrued by cities that accepted such arrangements.
“It’s crucial that the city has the time to do a thorough review and respond to the findings before agreeing to anything that could become a long-term financial burden to our residents and would in fact actually slow down our ongoing efforts to continuously improve our police department,” said Mayor Paul Young last year, before noting that the City of Chicago paid more than $500 million after entering into a consent decree.
The federal investigation into MPD came months after the death of Tyre Nichols, a black man who was killed after fleeing black police officers in January 2023. Though the three police officers involved face years in prison after a federal trial, a Hamilton County jury acquitted them last month on state charges.
Dhillon officially retracted the DOJ’s findings regarding MPD, as well as similar findings in Phoenix, Arizona; Trenton, New Jersey; Mount Vernon, New York; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and for the Louisiana State Police. She also announced the termination of previously active investigations into the Minneapolis and Louisville police departments.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Memphis Police Officer” by Memphis Police Department.
