Former Memphis Police Officer Preston Hemphill can no longer practice law enforcement in the State of Tennessee for the time being, according to a state commission.
On Thursday, June 15, the Peace Officer Standards & Training Commission (POST) voted to temporarily decertify Hemphill’s license to practice law enforcement in the state.
Hemphill was among the officers fired for their involvement in the Tyre Nichols case, a black man who was beaten by five black Memphis police officers following a traffic stop and foot chase.
Hemphill’s firing stemmed from an internal investigation that found he violated multiple department policies during Nichols’s arrest.
MPD wrote in a press release at the time of Hemphill’s firing that his actions and involvement in Nichols’ death were “under investigation as he participated in the initial traffic stop and the use of a TASER.”
Hemphill did not follow in pursuit of Nichols to the second scene, where he was beaten.
The commission unanimously voted Thursday to suspend Hemphill’s certification “until the conclusion of all investigations” stemming from the Nichols case, including an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Meanwhile, four out of the five former Memphis police officers charged with second degree murder in the beating death of Nichols can no longer practice law enforcement in the State of Tennessee.
In March, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star, the POST Commission voted to decertify three former officers Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin and Justin Smith, while the fourth former officer, Desmond Mills, surrendered his license one week prior.
The fifth officer charged in Nichols’ death, Tadarrius Bean, still possesses his license but cannot work for a law enforcement agency, as the POST Commission voted to put his decertification proceedings on pause pending the outcome of the criminal case against him.
The Memphis Police Department has been temporarily blocked from releasing disciplinary files and additional video in the case of Tyre Nichols by a judge.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Preston Hemphill” by Memphis Police Department. Background Photo “Memphis Police Cruiser” by Thomas R Machnitzki. CC BY 3.0.
