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MPD consultant: ‘It’s not about throwing a net and grabbing everybody’

By , Daily Memphian Updated: March 07, 2025 7:45 AM CT | Published: March 07, 2025 4:00 AM CT

Memphis’ public safety consultant walks throughout the city. He, like the mayor for whom he works, said he thinks Memphis is stretched thin by its sprawling geography. 

Fausto Pichardo, the former chief of patrol for the New York Police Department and a former consultant for New Orleans, said the Memphis Police Department could soon tweak how it staffs certain precincts. He also said the city’s struggles with crime stem somewhat from the city’s 300-plus square miles. 

In a lengthy interview, Memphis Mayor Paul Young and Pichardo used the adjectives “precise” and “targeted” multiple times. Pichardo’s answers about the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights investigation into MPD mirrored the administration’s public stance on the scathing report.

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public safety Fausto Pichardo Memphis Police Department Subscriber Only

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Samuel Hardiman

Samuel Hardiman

Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise and investigative reporter who focuses on local government and politics. He is a native Rhode Islander who lives Downtown. He has covered Memphis since 2018.

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