MPD stop of 18-year-old driver prompts calls for further reform
After a recent altercation between MPD officers and an 18-year-old driver, local activists are now calling for further police reforms.
There are 96 article(s) tagged MPD:
After a recent altercation between MPD officers and an 18-year-old driver, local activists are now calling for further police reforms.
The move is the latest in Strickland’s push to boost Memphis police numbers.
MPD brass told the Memphis City Council the department plans to take youth breaking curfew Downtown to the Greenlaw Community Center, which the city’s parks department is relinquishing to police.
Memphis is still focused on crime even as it does some introspection about police in the wake of Tyre Nichols’ death.
Franklin claims if police had properly investigated her September 2021 rape and had subsequently arrested Cleotha Henderson, the abduction and death of Eliza Fletcher in September 2022 could have been avoided.
As Tennessee again promises an increased number of state troopers, municipalities around the country are trying to find ways to curb the influence of lead-footed drivers, Memphis included. Memphis seeing more state troopers not just on highways but on ‘our city streets’Related story:
The Daily Memphian has identified all 56 MPD officers who were a part of SCORPION, the now disbanded unit whose officers were criminally charged with the death of Tyre Nichols. One local law enforcement leader says the stats show MPD needs more rigid hiring practices.
He taught Sunday school and is remembered by at least one officer as a kind, caring person who knew how to talk to citizens.
Though SCORPION already was affiliated with MPD’s larger Organized Crime Unit, all 35 of those officers were transferred to other parts of OCU.
The data is nuanced, and it’s difficult to tell what the long-term effect might be. Related story:
Hemphill is the sixth MPD officer to be fired for violating police policies in the Jan. 7 death of Tyre Nichols. State board suspends 2 of 3 fired EMTs over failure to help Tyre NicholsRelated story:
Preston Hemphill, one of two MPD officers suspended in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols in addition to five officers who have been fired, was a member of the now-disbanded SCORPION unit, court records show. Seventh MPD officer relieved of duty as more personnel actions are ‘imminent'Related stories:
A seventh Memphis Police officer under investigation and off the job is not identified. But police brass say he and officer Preston Hemphill have been relieved of duty since the day after Tyre Nichols was beaten by police in southeast Memphis.
The Memphis Police Department’s SCORPION unit, which MPD announced Saturday is being disbanded, is reminiscent of a controversial defunct unit in Atlanta over which MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis was once in charge. Related story:
The officers who were booked Thursday are Tadarrius Bean, 24; Demetrius Haley, 30; Emmitt Martin III, 30; Desmond Mills Jr., 32; and Justin Smith, 28.
The unit identifies upticks in motor vehicle thefts and violent crime and then targets those areas with patrolling SCORPION officers.
About 50 people, including family, friends and coworkers, attended the memorial service for Nichols at M.J. Edwards Funeral Home on the edge of Orange Mound. City pledges to release Nichols incident police body cam footage next weekRelated story:
Attorneys for the City of Memphis want a judge to dismiss rape victim Alicia Franklin’s lawsuit, contending MPD owed Alicia Franklin no duty to investigate to the extent she wanted.
In a legal twist in Memphis’ rape kit lawsuit, victims cite new evidence about DNA testing that could have been used to solve sexual assaults by strangers.
As the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation seeks millions of dollars to boost pay and fill crime lab staffing shortages, Memphis leaders look for answers in Nashville, Houston and other cities that built their own crime labs. A tale of two cities: How Nashville built the crime lab that Memphis couldn’tRelated story:
Following the murder of Eliza Fletcher, questions loom about MPD’s systems in investigating violent crime.
What the new Twitter landscape will look like, if the platform survives its present challenges, has some concerned over its effectiveness as an information platform.
An investigation by The Daily Memphian analyzed nearly 40 abductions and kidnappings since July 1.
The department’s No. 1 goal, according to its assistant chief of police services, is to expedite the 911 response time.
The break-ins follow a larger pattern seen in the city, according to Memphis police.