Tag: Memphis Police Department

Transparency Troubles Dog Memphis Police Department Again in Tyre Nichols Case

M.D. Kittle

On January 15, the Memphis Police Department issued a statement on its “internal investigation” into the death of Tyre Nichols — five days after the 29-year-old black man died. MPD said it “was important to take swift and deliberate action to maintain transparency, accountability, public trust, and legitimacy amongst our community.” 

But the troubled police department has had a host of transparency troubles surrounding the brutal beating of Nichols at the hands of five black police officers  – and a history of closed government offenses. 

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Memphis PD on Claims Tyre Nichols Was Targeted and Former Officers Charged with Murder Were Gang Members: ‘There Is No Evidence That Indicates That Either of These Claims Are True’

Michael Patrick Leahy

Memphis Police Department Public Information Officer Major Karen Rudolph told The Tennessee Star in an emailed statement on Tuesday, “There is no evidence that either of these claims are true,” in response to two questions posed to her by The Star.

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Memphis Police Department Has Reputation for Police Misconduct and Brutality

M.D. Kittle

The video showing five Memphis Police officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols following a traffic stop appears to be the latest example of a law enforcement agency known for police misconduct and corruption. 

While the Mississippi River city has been working to clean up its dirty reputation, Memphis has long struggled with issues of police brutality and criminal cops. 

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Law Enforcement Concerned About New Wave of Riots in Wake of Tyre Nichols’ Death

M.D. Kittle

Protesters gathered in Milwaukee over the weekend to condemn police brutality following the release of video showing the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis Police officers. 

Unlike the scenes of looting, violence and whole city blocks in flame that accompanied the anti-police protests during the long, hot summer of 2020, the demonstrations in Milwaukee and elsewhere were mostly peaceful. 

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Three Paramedics Terminated, Seventh Memphis Police Officer Relieved of Duty Amid Ongoing Investigation into Death of Tyre Nichols

Kaitlin Housler

On Monday, the Memphis Police Department (MPD) announced that a seventh officer has been relieved of duty amid the ongoing investigation into the beating death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. In addition, the Memphis Fire Dispatch (MFD) announced that three paramedics have been terminated from the Memphis Fire Department as a result of its own internal investigation into Nichols’ death.

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Former Memphis Police Officer Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Civil Rights Violations

Peter D'Abrosca

A former Memphis Police officer was sentenced to more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty to several crimes. 

On January 24, 2020, former Memphis Police Officer Sam Blue 63, pled guilty to conspiracy to violate civil rights by using force, violence, and intimidation, and conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce,” said a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). “On October 25, 2022, United States District Court Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. sentenced Blue to 144 months in federal prison to be followed by three years’ supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.”

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Memphis City Council Discusses the Enforcement of Curfew for Minors Under 18 Years Old

Kaitlyn Osteen

During a public safety committee, on Tuesday, The Memphis City Council discussed strictly enforcing the Memphis curfew for children 17 and under.  

Vice Chairman Martavius Jones said, “Juvenile Crime has spiked over the years…I commend our men and women in blue for all that they are doing. However, the things that are on the books, we definitely want to make those things happen…One thing that we do know, if they are in the house, a lot of this wouldn’t be happening. If they [children] were at home, under parental supervision, some of these things wouldn’t be happening.”

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Memphis Museum Cancels Drag Show Amid Protests

Peter D'Abrosca

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) Monday confirmed that it did not shut down a drag show at the Memphis Museum of Science and History (MoSH), but that the museum canceled the event due to protests. 

“Management of the Pink Palace chose to cancel all events [Friday], MPD Public Information Officer Theresa Carlson told The Tennessee Star. “MPD was asked to assist. No incidents occurred and no arrests were made.”

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TBI’s Average Turnaround Time for Rape Kit Analysis Is 45 Weeks

Peter D'Abrosca

According to data provided to The Tennessee Star by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the average time it takes for the state law enforcement agency to conduct analysis on sexual assault kits (SAKs) submitted to it by local law enforcement is 45 weeks. 

That figure accounts for SAKs that are reviewed by TBI’s Jackson crime lab. In its Nashville lab, TBI tests and analyzes SAKs in about 25 weeks. In its Knoxville lab, that figure is around 30 weeks. 

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Memphis Police Mourn Officer Who Died in Crash While on Duty

Peter D'Abrosca

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) Friday is mourning the loss of an officer who died in a car crash while on duty.

“Memphis police officers and a citizen collided in this intersection, and at this particular time, we’ve got the Tennessee Highway Patrol that’s out here that is taking control of this investigation,”  Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis said in a press conference from the scene of the crash Thursday.

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Memphis Police Report Four Christmas and Christmas Eve Homicides

Chris Butler

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) reported that the city had a violent Christmas Eve and a violent Christmas day, including four homicides. MPD officials tweeted about one shooting homicide that occurred at 2:26 a.m. Saturday at the 1000 block of Haynes Street. Authorities transported the shooting victim to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, where staff pronounced him deceased. MPD officials said they had no information about a suspect.

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Memphis Launches ‘Group Violence Intervention Program’ to Curb Explosion of Gun Violence

Corinne Murdock

Memphis launched its Group Violence Intervention Program (GVIP) in an effort to reduce violent crimes – namely, gun violence. Officials described it as a “proactive, holistic plan” that adopted models that had purportedly been successful in other cities, though it didn’t specify which ones.

According to the plan, the GVIP will have a czar overseeing three separate branches: a “focused deterrence” coordinator that works with organizations such as the police and social service agencies; a data, policy, community action coordinator that arranges volunteers for various community events; and an intervention coordinator that oversees the outreach workers and violence interrupters. 

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Memphis Police Officer Charged with On-Duty Kidnapping, Murder

Peter D'Abrosca

A member of the Memphis Police Department (MPD) has been arrested and charged with the kidnapping and murder of another man while on duty.

According to a press release posted to MPD’s Twitter account, Officer Patric Ferguson has been charged with First Degree Murder, First Degree Murder in Perpetration of Aggravated Kidnapping, Especially Aggravated Kidnapping, Abuse of a Corpse, and Fabricating and Tampering With Evidence in the alleged murder of 30-year-old Robert Howard.

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Convicted Felon in Memphis Used a Firearm to Traffic Drugs, Feds Say

Chris Butler

Federal officials in Memphis have sentenced a man, already a felon, to prison for possessing a firearm, possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This, according to a press release that officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee published on their website this week.

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Memphis Police Department to Stop Using No-Knock Warrants

The Associated Press

The Memphis Police Department has decided to stop using “no-knock” warrants in the wake of the fatal shooting of a black Kentucky woman by narcotics detectives who burst into her home.

Memphis police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said the move to eliminate no-knock warrants had been a source of discussion since the death of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, who was killed in March after police detectives smashed through her front door while serving a drug warrant in Louisville.

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