Mayor Paul Young has opened discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice as he seeks guidance for reforming the Memphis Police Department.
In an exclusive interview with the Institute for Public Service Reporting, Young said he met earlier this month with DOJ representatives to discuss findings that MPD often engages in excessive force, discrimination, unconstitutional traffic stops and other illegal acts.
But insisting again that Memphis can’t afford to enter a costly consent decree that would place MPD under federal supervision, Young said he envisions DOJ playing an advisory role to a locally appointed reform task force.
“We reiterated to them that we want to continue to have their participation in the process, their intellect around the issue and experience. And they certainly were open to that,” Young said.
The mayor said the city could sign a memorandum of understanding enabling DOJ to provide technical assistance.
Detailing his evolving plans, Young said in the 12-minute phone interview he envisions a task force comprising nine to 11 members including law enforcement, mental health and legal specialists along with community representatives who would present an action plan to retired federal judge Bernice Donald. The city announced last month that it would hire Donald as a consultant for the review of MPD practices.
“There’s no reason that we can’t develop something that could become a model for the rest of the country,” Young said.
He anticipates the task force taking shape within the next month.
Still, some leaders in Memphis’ Black community are skeptical.
“Federal intervention is the only real way we can begin the work,’’ said Rev. J. Lawrence Turner, a leading civil rights advocate and pastor at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.
Young has said a consent decree could cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars to implement, pointing to hefty costs in cities like New Orleans and Chicago.
But Rev. Earle Fisher said a task force appointed by the city could be toothless and incapable of bringing true reform. He worries that a task force could wind up costing Memphis more in the end: The family of Tyre Nichols, a motorist beaten to death by five former Memphis police officers in 2023, currently is seeking $550 million in damages from the city.
“You’re dealing with the risk of another lawsuit that could be seven, eight, nine figures versus a commitment over several years of adequately investing in reforms that I believe will be substantially cheaper,” Fisher said.
Debate over consent decrees
The effectiveness of consent decrees is debated nationally.
Critics point to a lack of research. And consent decrees are only temporary. A city can petition to exit a consent decree after its police department is found by a judge to be in compliance with the terms of the agreement. Then what?
Lisa Daugaard, whose work as an expert in criminal justice reform led to a prestigious fellowship with MacArthur Foundation, has soured on the use of consent decrees as tools for reform.
“The problem with consent decrees isn’t that they’re wrong about the nature and extent of a problem, they’re often wrong about the solutions,” Daugaard told The Institute. “It’s understandable that people are attached to the concept, but empirically there are a number of ways they can disappoint.”
Conditions outlined in consent decrees can be checklists for police departments that introduce a false sense of accomplishment while more complex, long-term solutions that reduce a community’s interaction with the criminal justice system are set aside, Duagaard said.
Even worse, Daugaard said, consent decree oversight often fails to include the voices of community leaders and those disproportionally ensnared in the justice system.
As the former director of the Public Defenders Association, her assessment stems from a front-row view of the consent decree process between the DOJ and the Seattle Police Department, spurred by the 2010 police killing of John T. Williams.
“It’s not like a representative government model where you can make an appointment to see the judge,” Duargaard said. “It ends up marginalizing community leaders.”
Still, proponents of consent decrees say they draw clear lines for officers that can, in turn, prevent costly lawsuits against local governments.
After a federal judge ruled in 2018 that Memphis police had violated First Amendment protections by conducting political surveillance on activists, court-ordered rules spelled out the ways police could and could not use social media and other digital tools as part of their investigations.
The differing views on consent decrees may be a moot point as the DOJ enters into a second administration under President Donald Trump. During his first administration, the DOJ did not enter into any new consent decrees. Trump has likened the agreements to “defunding the police.”
Young’s vision
Under Young’s plan, former Judge Donald will evaluate the proposals the task force brings her, “to direct whether it is appropriate, or whether it is meeting the charge,” he said.
Donald, who retired from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 2023, will also have the ability to retain subject matter experts to guide her.
Transparency is key, Young said. Community meetings and public participation will be regular features in the process, he said.
“We want them engaged at every step,” Young said.
Any progress reports Donald and the task force come up with also would be public, he said.
Critics like Rev. Turner remain unconvinced.
“We’ve tried to do this ourselves before,” he said.
Turner pointed to last year, when Tennessee lawmakers overturned a local reform ordinance passed in the wake of Nichols’ beating death that banned Memphis police from conducting traffic stops solely for minor offenses like an improperly placed license plate or a single broken taillight.
It could happen again, he said: “The state is not a partner in police reform.’’
Ultimately, there are no guarantees any task force reforms will stick, he said.
“In four years he (Young) could be out of office. What will become of the process that he put in place?” Turner asked.
