Memphis United working to amend MPD review board

With 20 police officers arrested in 12 months since March 2015, local group Memphis United is pushing to fix the barrel and move past the few bad apples argument. The grassroots coalition is calling for a stronger Civilian Law Review Board for objective oversight of the Memphis Police Department.

Memphis has technically had a CLERB since Memphis City Council passed an ordinance in 1994, but the effort in bringing that board up to date is seven years in the making. In 2008, footage surfaced of Duanna Johnson being beaten by MPD officers while in police custody. The subsequent outcry prompted an audit of all MPD internal affairs and CLERB procedures, and an ad-hoc committee was created to investigate how the CLERB could be improved.

This committee, which was made up of members of City Council, MPD, and the Memphis Police Union, never met and was quietly disbanded in 2011. Recently, the City Council empowered Memphis United to research and garner citizen input about how the MPD’s complaint process could be made more transparent and accountable. Their plan for an amended ordinance passed through the committee and passed in committee Tuesday. Now the ordinance will have to be read before the full council twice in May. 

Memphis United organizer Paul Garner believes the CLERB board initially stopped functioning because it kept running up against institutional roadblocks. “We’re basically attempting to give this board the teeth that it needs to fully investigate complaints,” he said.

His proposal insists on creating a CLERB that has dedicated staff and subpoena power. All complaints would be forwarded to the board directly instead of passing through the MPD’s internal affairs. Instead, the groups would work alongside each other. The board would make recommendations for discipline action, but the ultimate decision would rest with MPD’s director.

 “We want to make sure that when a civilian has a complaint that they want to bring about an officer, they know that it's investigated with genuine attention fairly,” said Garner. “Not just an institution investigating themselves, but there's an objective set of eyes also in that process. It doesn't change or interfere with what Internal Affairs does, but they do have to provide the information to this board.”

Garner hopes that streamlining the complaint process will help the board to comb reports for patterns of misconduct, hopefully leading more systemic level policy changes.

Taylor Flake, president of the Christian Brothers University chapter of the NAACP, was present at the initial committee reading on Monday, April 21. “Memphis needs a review board that is strong and effective like seen in other cities,” Flake said.

“Accepting the full amended ordinance as is with subpoena powers will raise the standard and give the board the powers it needs to conduct meaningful investigations. As students, with many more years to live and work in Memphis, we desire stronger civilian oversight of the police because this oversight will protect and improve our quality of life in Memphis,” she added.

If it passes through the readings, the ordinance could be approved as early as late May.