Memphis Police Department

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) provides police services to the people of the city of Memphis in a 288-square-mile area with 2,081 officers. There are nine precincts in the Memphis area.[http://www.cityofmemphis.org/Government/PoliceServices.aspx "City of Memphis Police Department"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406051356/http://www.cityofmemphis.org/Government/PoliceServices.aspx |date=2013-04-06 }}. cityofmemphis.org. Retrieved September 4, 2020.[https://memphiscrime.org/news/memphis-police-department-staffing-where-do-we-stand] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811075216/https://memphiscrime.org/news/memphis-police-department-staffing-where-do-we-stand/|date=2020-08-11}} "

MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING: WHERE DO WE STAND?"]. memphiscrime.org. Retrieved September 4, 2020 The chief of police is appointed by the mayor and ratified by the city council.Taylor, Eryn. [http://wreg.com/2016/07/15/city-of-memphis-releases-names-of-police-director-candidates/ "City of Memphis releases names of police director candidates"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717151021/http://wreg.com/2016/07/15/city-of-memphis-releases-names-of-police-director-candidates/ |date=2016-07-17}}. WREG.com. July 15, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.

The administrative services department provides services that enable the other programs to effectively respond to service calls. It provides security services; warrant, subpoena, and property processing; radio and telephone communications; inspection of police services; and management of information and human resources. Additional functions include the reporting and recording of crimes and incidents and personnel development.

The investigative services department includes the domestic violence bureau, the homicide, the missing person's bureau, the sex crimes/juvenile abuse bureau, the general investigative bureau, the felony response bureau, and support units.

Image:Memphis Charger.JPG

Uniform patrol is divided into the geographic areas of Tillman Station (Central Precinct), North Main Station (Downtown Precinct), Appling Farms Station (Northeast Precinct), Crump Station (West Precinct), Mt. Moriah Station (East Precinct), Old Allen Station (North Precinct), Raines Station (South Precinct), Airways Station (Southeast Precinct), Ridgeway Station, and Union Station (Traffic Division).

Staff representation by race is 52 percent African American/Black, 47 percent White, and one percent Hispanic. 84 percent of staff are male, and 16 percent are female.{{cite web |date=2011-02-11 |title=Memphis Police Department At a Glance |url=http://www.memphispolice.org/MPD%20at%20a%20Glance.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207042602/http://www.memphispolice.org/MPD%20at%20a%20Glance.htm |archivedate=2012-02-07 |accessdate=2012-01-29 |publisher=Memphispolice.org}}

Officers are issued the SIG Sauer P229R DAK .40 S&W as the sidearm of choice.

The MPD uses these ranks:

The assistant chief insignia is four stars arranged in a diamond pattern.

The Memphis Police Department was founded in 1827.{{cite web |url=http://www.memphispolice.org/History%202004.htm |title=Memphis Police Department History |publisher=Memphispolice.org |accessdate=2012-01-29 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117070253/http://www.memphispolice.org/History%202004.htm |archivedate=2012-01-17}} In 1878, the 55-man police department was devastated by the yellow fever epidemic with all 55 officers stricken, and 10 officers dying. By 1927, the city's murder rate was 69.3 per 100,000 population, the highest in the country. In comparison, Chicago, then controlled by Al Capone, had a murder rate of only 13.3 per 100,000.One Summer; America 1927, by Bill Bryson, Doubleday 2013, Kindle Location 6257 Memphis police officers Thomas Waterson and Sergeant William Raney captured George "Machine Gun" Kelly in 1933. The first African American officers were hired in 1948, twenty years before the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis which sparked riots and curfews across the city. In 1973, the department witnessed the formation of two police unions—the Afro-American Police Association and the Memphis Police Association, a bargaining unit representing patrolmen and sergeants, and in 1978 the department went on an eight-day strike in a labor dispute with city leaders.

In 1979, the city admitted that written tests used in the police hiring and promotion process had a disparate impact on blacks.{{cite news | last = Liebelson | first = Dana | date = February 19, 2015 | title = Dozens of African-American Cops In Tennessee Face Demotions Over Discrimination Lawsuit | url = https://www.huffpost.com/entry/memphis-police-demotions_n_6707430 | work = Huffpost | access-date = February 4, 2023 | archive-date = February 4, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230204225107/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/memphis-police-demotions_n_6707430 | url-status = live}}{{cite court | litigants = Florence Billingsley, et al. vs. City of Memphis; Marilyn Johnson, et al. vs. City of Memphis | reporter = U.S. | court = W. D. Tenn. |year = 2006 |url = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-tnwd-2_00-cv-02608/pdf/USCOURTS-tnwd-2_00-cv-02608-15.pdf}} In 2002, a test used in the promotion process resulted in 31 percent of black candidates promoted, and 73 percent of whites. In 2006, a court ruled the 2002 test violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and "28 plaintiffs with passing exam scores and sufficient work experience were promoted". This decision would be reversed in 2014 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

James Ivy became the city's first African-American police director in 1988. 1992 saw Eddie B. Adair named the first African American chief of police

In 1992, Sergeant Jim Nichols, assigned to MPD Research & Development, formed a non-profit organization that raised money to allow MPD to become one of the first law enforcement agencies in Tennessee to utilize computers in a networks systems, where each detective, as well as the executive administration, had a computer on their desk to assist in writing up reports, running background checks, send and receive an email as well as other administrative needs relating to law enforcement.

In June 2013, Officer Brandon Berry was charged with forcing men to have sex with him in exchange for not arresting them on outstanding warrants.Former officer charged with forcing fugitives to perform sexual acts, by Jason Miles, 21 June 2013, WMC-TV The next month officer Jason Webb was fired when he was charged with soliciting sex from an underage prostitute.Police Officer Charged With Soliciting A Minor Has Long List Of Troubles, by April Thompson, 15 July 2013, WREG.com In August 2013, Officer Vance Stacks was convicted of drunk driving and weapons charges related to a traffic accident in 2011.Former Memphis police officer convicted on DUI, gun charges, by Lawrence Buser, The Commercial Appeal, 12 August 2013 In September 2013, Officer Alex Beard plead guilty to reduced charges as a result of reckless behavior. In August 2012, while driving his official vehicle at more than ninety miles an hour without lights or a siren, he struck another car, killing a woman and her daughter. Beard was sentenced to six months in jail and six years on probation.Family devastated by former MPD officer's plea deal, by Nick Kenney, 11 September 2013, WMC-TV In December 2013, Officer Matthew Ashmore was arrested after child pornography was found on his telephone.Memphis officer held over child porn on phone, police say, by ArkansasOnline, 27 December 2013

In July 2014, hundreds of policemen called in sick apparently to protest the city reducing pay by 4.6 percent while giving millions of dollars to private entities. On July 5, 181 officers called in sick. The following Monday, 550 officers did not come to work.308 Tennessee police officers call in sick in apparent protest, by the Associated Press, 7 July 2014 In late 2014, press reports indicated that the department had 11,000 untested rape kits on hand.New York Initiative to help Other Cities Clear Rape-Kit Backlogs; by Tatinana Scholossberg, 14 November 2014, The New York Times

The new MPD headquarters at 170 North Main Street, was opened in 2017.

In 2018 due to a shortage of police officer staff and candidates, the requirement that newly-hired officers have a college degree was removed; officers were instead given four years to obtain a college degree after being hired.{{cite news | last = Connolly | first = Daniel | date = June 26, 2018 | title = Memphis Police Department loosens college requirement for recruits | url = https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/06/25/memphis-police-department-loosens-college-requirement-mpd-academy/731702002/ | work = Commercial Appeal | access-date = January 30, 2023 | archive-date = February 8, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230208233211/https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/06/25/memphis-police-department-loosens-college-requirement-mpd-academy/731702002/ | url-status = live }} The Memphis Police Association opposed the change, saying "citizens deserve quality officers", and described the change as "lowering the standards". The same year, MPD was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee for violating a 1978 decree by surveilling on citizens for political purposes. White MPD Sergeant Timothy Reynolds admitted in the trial that he pretended to be a black man named "Bob Smith" on Facebook to spy on activists participating in the Black Lives Matter movement, one of them being journalist and founder of MLK50 Wendi C. Thomas. Judge Jon Phipps McCalla ruled that MPD was guilty of violating the decree.{{Cite web |last=Watts |first=Micaela A. |title=Federal court monitor says MPD is complying with sanctions on surveillance tactics |url=https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/breaking/2019/04/23/memphis-police-aclu-trial-citizen-surveillance-court-appointed-monitor-says-mpd-cooperative/3551107002/ |access-date=2020-07-11 |website=The Commercial Appeal |language=en-US |archive-date=2020-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712041702/https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/breaking/2019/04/23/memphis-police-aclu-trial-citizen-surveillance-court-appointed-monitor-says-mpd-cooperative/3551107002/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Wendi C. |last2=Journalism |first2=MLK50: Justice Through |title=The Police Have Been Spying on Black Reporters and Activists for Years. I Know Because I’m One of Them. |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/the-police-have-been-spying-on-black-reporters-and-activists-for-years-i-know-because-im-one-of-them?token=pnmZCKup_9SO_Q1DvGQOooKLHsrJG0Fr |access-date=2020-07-11 |website=ProPublica |language=en |archive-date=2020-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801020834/https://www.propublica.org/article/the-police-have-been-spying-on-black-reporters-and-activists-for-years-i-know-because-im-one-of-them?token=pnmZCKup_9SO_Q1DvGQOooKLHsrJG0Fr |url-status=live }}

In late 2020, retired African- American MPD Homicide Investigator Eric Kelly was charged with having a sexual relationship with a murder suspect.[https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/crime/2020/09/01/memphis-police-investigator-eric-kelly-criminal-charges/3454858001/ "Embattled former Memphis police homicide investigator Eric Kelly faces criminal charges"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903074437/https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/crime/2020/09/01/memphis-police-investigator-eric-kelly-criminal-charges/3454858001/ |date=2020-09-03 }}. commercialappeal.com. Retrieved September 4, 2020.

In October 2021, MPD launched the SCORPION (street crimes operation to restore peace in our neighborhoods) specialized unit which targeted high-impact crimes and gang-related offenses.{{Cite news |date=2023-01-28 |title=Tyre Nichols: Police unit is disbanded after death |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64442756 |access-date=2023-01-29 |archive-date=2023-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128230010/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64442756 |url-status=live }} The unit had three teams totaling about 30 officers.{{Cite web |last=Sainz |first=Adrian |date=2023-01-28 |title=Memphis police disband unit that beat Tyre Nichols |url=https://apnews.com/article/politics-memphis-crime-law-enforcement-1b7e8fa4ed7120a897086250d5d6da35 |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128223557/https://apnews.com/article/politics-memphis-crime-law-enforcement-1b7e8fa4ed7120a897086250d5d6da35 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Tanyos |first=Faris |date=2023-01-28 |title=Memphis police shut down SCORPION unit whose officers are charged in death of Tyre Nichols |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/memphis-police-shut-down-scorpion-unit-tyre-nichols-arrest-video/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |publisher=CBS News |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129000446/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/memphis-police-shut-down-scorpion-unit-tyre-nichols-arrest-video/ |url-status=live}} The same year, the department appointed the first female and first African American Chief of Police, Cerelyn J. Davis. Also in 2021, Mayor Strickland's Advisory Council Reimagining Police report was released with recommendations.{{Cite web |date=2021-06-10 |title=Mayor Strickland's Advisory Council Reimagining Police |url=https://reimagine.memphistn.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2021/08/Reimagining-Policing-Final-Recommendations-Report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123034937if_/https://reimagine.memphistn.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2021/08/Reimagining-Policing-Final-Recommendations-Report.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-23 |access-date=2023-01-27}} Following the killing of Tyre Nichols, the SCORPION unit was disbanded by Police Chief Davis in 2023, with Davis also terminating the employment of five associated officers. On March 8, 2023, the United States Department of Justice announced that it would investigate the Memphis PD.{{cite web |title=Justice Department to review Memphis Police Department following Tyre Nichols' death |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/justice-department-review-memphis-police-department-tyre-nichols/story?id=97709628 |website=ABC News |date=2023-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408141422/https://abcnews.go.com/US/justice-department-review-memphis-police-department-tyre-nichols/story?id=97709628 |archive-date=2023-04-08 |url-status=live |last1=Mallin |first1=Alexander |last2=Alfonseca |first2=Kiara}}

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