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The Department of Justice issued a report detailing the numerous abuses by the Memphis Police Department based on their investigation after the death of Tyre Nichols.
On Wednesday (Dec. 4), the Department of Justice released a scathing report containing the findings of an investigation into the Memphis Police Department, revealing that the department “engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, conducting unlawful stops, searches and arrests and discriminatory policing of Black people and residents with behavioral health disabilities,” according to DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. The department began its investigation 17 months after the beating death of Tyre Nichols by Memphis Police officers in 2023 after a traffic stop.
The report went into detail on how officers would employ excessive force “almost immediately in response to low-level, nonviolent offenses, even when people are not aggressive.” One example detailed how nine police cruisers and 12 officers responded to a call of a mentally ill person who stole a $2 soft drink from a gas station, using a Taser and pepper spray in the process. Another data point by Clarke highlighted the disparity of police interactions between Black and white residents, where she noted: “MPD cites or arrests Black adults for marijuana possession at 5.2 times the rate of White adults.” Another instance detailed how a Memphis Police officer picked up an 8-year-old with behavioral issues and tossed him onto a couch. These were in addition to “inconsistencies” between written reports and body camera footage.
The city of Memphis held a press conference to respond to the findings of the report. “In the last three years we have changed over 700 policies… that help to direct process, help to improve officer response. Community engagement has been a significant part of the work we have been doing,” said Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn “C.J” Davis. Davis is Black, as is 50% of the police department, including the five officers involved in beating Nichols. Memphis City Attorney Tannera George Gibson stated that the city had been presented with a consent decree granting further federal oversight over the department, but it declined in a letter, writing: “Until the City has had the opportunity to review, analyze, and challenge the specific allegations that support your forthcoming findings report, the City cannot — and will not — agree to work toward or enter into a consent decree that will likely be in place for years to come and will cost the residents of Memphis hundreds of millions of dollars.”
