The Memphis Police Department (MPD) regularly uses “excessive force” and unlawfully discriminates against Black people, according to the findings of a Justice Department investigation released Wednesday.
The DOJ also alleges MPD conducts unlawful stops, searches and arrests, while raising “serious concerns about MPD’s treatment of children” and accusing the department and the city of Memphis of unlawfully discriminating in their response to people with behavioral health disabilities.
The DOJ called on the city and its police force to take specific measures to address the alleged harms identified in the report, while acknowledging local officials’ cooperation with the investigation and the changes they have already made.
“The people of Memphis deserve a police department and city that protects their civil and constitutional rights, garners trust and keeps them safe,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ Civil Rights Division said in a press release Wednesday.
“We acknowledge Memphis’ cooperation during our investigation and look forward to instituting reforms that will address the harms we identified,” she added.
The DOJ opened the investigation six months after Tyre Nichols was killed in Memphis after a traffic stop in January 2023 turned deadly. Memphis police officers initially said Nichols was stopped for reckless driving, though authorities later acknowledged there was no evidence to substantiate the claim.
Graphic video footage of the encounter showed officers using pepper spray, deploying a stun gun and beating Nichols repeatedly. He can be heard throughout the video screaming for his mother throughout the incident. Nichols died of his injuries three days after the stop. In October 2024, three former MPD police officers involved in Nichols’s fatal beating were convicted on charges of witness tampering, while two were acquitted of federal civil rights violations.
The DOJ report says Memphis police “has relied on traffic stops to address violent crime,” but supervision is limited, and “MPD does not ensure that officers conduct themselves in a lawful manner.”
The report mentions Nichols’s case in particular, describing it as a “tragic” consequence of this alleged unlawful behavior.
“Memphis police officers regularly violate the rights of the people they are sworn to serve. Our investigation found that officers use force to punish and retaliate against people who do not immediately do as they say,” the DOJ said.
“They rapidly escalate encounters, including traffic stops, and use excessive force even when people are already handcuffed or restrained. They resort to intimidation and threats. They have put themselves and others in harm’s way—officers have unlawfully fired at moving cars and accidentally pepper sprayed and fired Tasers at each other,” the DOJ added.
Prosecutors and judges told DOJ investigators that “officers do not understand the constitutional limits on their authority” and regularly detain people without cause and conduct “invasive searches of people and cars.”
The DOJ said these practices “undermine public safety” and “erode trust in law enforcement” and often lead to the cases getting dismissed by courts or dropped by prosecutors.
“Black people in Memphis disproportionately experience these violations,” the department said. “MPD has never assessed its practices for evidence of discrimination. We found that officers treat Black people more harshly than white people who engage in similar conduct.”
The city responded to the report, saying it would not agree to negotiate federal oversight of the police department until it could review the DOJ findings and challenge the results of the investigation, The Associated Press reported.
Mayor Paul Young and interim Memphis Police Department Chief C.J. Davis reiterated their resistance to a consent decree Thursday morning, according to local news outlets, but said they will review the report “with an open mind.”
“However, make no mistake, we are taking the DOJ’s findings seriously and will review this lengthy report with an open mind. I believe it is crucial that we take the necessary time to thoroughly review in order to formulate a response that truly addresses the needs of Memphis,” Young said in the letter. “Our dedication to improving the Memphis Police Department is unwavering, and we believe that working with local stakeholders and national experts will yield a plan that more effectively meets our community’s needs than an overly bureaucratic, costly, and complicated Federal government consent decree.”
The Hill has reached out to the mayor’s office.
