Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says he tried to talk to U.S. Justice Department officials several months ago when he learned they were about to launch a “pattern and practice” review of the Memphis Police Department.

“I asked them specifically if I could talk to them before they reached this point,” Strickland said Friday, July 28. “I know they talked to many other folks in Memphis and outside of Memphis on the issue. They obviously refused to do that.”

Such investigations usually last years and take a close look at arrest statistics, due process data from the move to arrest into the court system and police policies.

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They also involve watching how police work and talking to community leaders.

Strickland expects his current term in office, which runs to the end of this year, will be over before the new Justice Department probe is completed. He expressed concerns that it could make it more difficult to hire police officers.

“One of the things I want to know — it’s more of a discussion — at the end of the day, how have these affected recruitment and retention of officers? How has it affected the crime rate? What does it cost?” he said of the federal probe.

“I wanted to have a deep dive into that because I see overall a really great police department who does incredible work under hard circumstances,” Strickland said. “This is a hard city to be a police officer in.”

The closest comparison to the new federal probe is the years of investigation that preceded the Justice Department’s 2012 announcement of an agreement with Shelby County government Shelby County Juvenile Court to change the court’s conditions.

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While the two local entities agreed to cooperate, the findings on due process and other Constitutional issues that prompted the agreement were scathing.

With the agreement came years of federal oversight with juvenile justice experts monitoring the court’s operation to make sure changes were carried out.

The agreement came to an abrupt end at the request of several county leaders along with police “pattern and practice” Justice Department investigations across the country when President Donald Trump took office in 2017.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions also ended a smaller scope review of Memphis Police sought by Strickland and then Police Director Michael Rallings in the wake of the 2015 police shooting death of Darrius Stewart.

Sessions said the new federal policy was to abandon such critical examinations and instead provide more technical assistance asked for by police departments instead of oversight and reforms the Justice Department could compel cities and police departments to enact.

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Strickland said the investigation announced this week was not sought by the city or MPD.

“I had asked to talk to them in depth about this type of inquiry. I had asked them months ago. I know they talked to others in our community. They didn’t ask me,” he told reporters after cutting the ribbon Friday on improvements at Audubon Park.

“And then they called me and told me they had made this decision. When I met with them in person (Thursday), they said they have a policy not to talk to any city when this is going on,” he said. “But they’ll talk to frankly anybody else in the nation really. I hope as this procedure goes on that they are more inclusive and do hear from the city’s perspective.”

City government’s perspective, according to Strickland, is that police as a whole are doing their jobs properly.

“I’m confident in the Memphis Police Department that an independent inquiry will show that we have incredibly dedicated professionals who are doing great work under hard circumstances,” he said Friday. “What I really hope is they find what I think is there — a police department that is abiding by the U.S. Constitution.”

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The investigation comes seven months after the death of Tyre Nichols, who died this past January after he was beaten during a traffic stop by Memphis Police officers in a street-crime unit that has since been disbanded.

Five Memphis Police officers were fired and are awaiting trial on second-degree murder and other charges.

Nichols’ family is suing the City of Memphis and the officers for violating his civil rights.

Nichols’ death is the focus of a specific investigation by another part of the Justice Department.

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Strickland says he has been told that should be completed before the end of this year.

“I want a chance to implement those changes,” he said of the recommendations that might come as a result.

Nichols’ death raised larger questions about the use of street-crime units and the ways they are supervised. And those questions that have arisen in other incidents like the Stewart case prompted the broader federal review.

“It’s a civil action. It’s not criminal. If they do find any violations they have the option of filing a lawsuit in court and asking the court to require the Memphis Police Department to do something or not to do something,” Strickland said. “The city can agree with that and enter into a consent decree or fight it out in court.”

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Nichols’ death prompted Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis to make police policy more specific and increase training on the requirement that officers have a “duty to intervene” if they see another officer breaking police policies and/or the law.

The Memphis City Council also passed a resolution urging the police department to ban certain kinds of minor traffic stops and avoid using unmarked police cars when it makes stops on more serious traffic violations.