Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Good morning. Joining me is Reagan Fondren, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
Based on a comprehensive investigation of the City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department (MPD), the Justice Department has found a pattern or practice of conduct that violates people’s rights.
Our investigative team includes career attorneys and staff from the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and more than a dozen experts who specialize in police department management, use of force, statistics and other areas. The investigation was comprehensive and exhaustive. We interviewed dozens of police officers and many city employees, as well as hundreds of community members and local organizations. We reviewed hundreds of incidents, watched hundreds of body-worn camera videos, read thousands of documents and conducted statistical analyses of the department’s data regarding officer activities and enforcement.
Based on this investigation, we found that the police in Memphis use excessive force; that they stop, search and arrest people unlawfully; that their policies have a discriminatory effect on Black people; and that they discriminate against people with behavioral health disabilities. Furthermore, we are concerned that Memphis police officers unnecessarily escalate encounters with some of the most vulnerable members of the community — its children.
Many dedicated police officers in Memphis regularly risk their lives to keep people safe and to protect their rights. The practices I described, however, violate the Constitution and federal law. They harm and demean people. And they promote distrust, undermining the fundamental safety mission of a police department.
The city and police department can and must correct these issues.
First, the police department must stop using excessive force. Officers often make tough choices in stressful circumstances. But in Memphis, we have found that officers often use unwarranted serious force in response to low-level violations or traffic offenses. For example, officers tackled a man and held him down by his neck for littering in a park. Officers routinely punish people who flee or don’t immediately follow directions.
Second, the police department must end unlawful stops, searches and arrests. Without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe the people they stop have contraband, are dangerous, or are a flight risk, officers often frisk, search, handcuff or hold them. For example, police detained a Black man outside a dollar store and struck with him in leg with a baton and pepper sprayed him in the face. Dollar stores in the area had seen a spate of robberies, but police had no reason to suspect this man had anything to do with them. Further, without evidence that someone’s car contains drugs or weapons, officers often tow and impound it.
Third, the police department must stop policies that have a disproportionate effect on Black people in this community. We uncovered racial disparities that cannot be explained by differences in driving behavior. We found that the department cites or arrests Black adults for marijuana possession at 5.2 times the rate of white adults, based on data from 2018 to 2023. Police cite Black drivers for equipment violations like tinted windows at several times the rate of white drivers. And between 2018 and 2023, they arrested 121 Black children for disorderly conduct compared to just one white child during that time period.
Fourth, the city and the police department must stop discriminating in their response to people with behavioral health disabilities. When someone in Memphis calls 911 for a medical emergency, medical professionals respond. But if someone calls 911 for a behavioral health emergency, the police respond — even when there is no evident safety risk. One woman encountered police officers 169 times over five years. In nearly 95% of these encounters, there were no criminal charges. Instead, police brought her to hospital care.
Crisis Intervention Teams began in Memphis, with officers specifically trained in responding to behavioral health calls. Nevertheless, we found that even these officers still used force without justification and without first trying to resolve situations peacefully. One crisis team member acquired the nickname “Taser Face” for his inordinate use of the tool.
These team members routinely escalated encounters and used unnecessary force against people with behavioral health disabilities — even children. Crisis intervention officers taunted, threatened and used force against an eight-year-old boy with a history of mental health treatment.
Children often suffer harsh treatment from the Memphis Police Department. Officers approach kids aggressively, use profane language with them and inflict needless, unreasonable force on them. In one especially disturbing case, a 16-year-old Black girl called the police to report she had been assaulted. When officers arrived on the scene, she declined to hand over her phone. The police handcuffed her, and she became agitated. The officers responded by threatening her. Ultimately, they grabbed her and pushed her onto the ground. This kind of encounter potentially harms our children more than similar conduct harms adults, creating risk of serious long-term harms such as post-traumatic stress, diminished academic performance or future delinquent behavior.
The misconduct that we observed offends the dignity of Memphis residents. It creates stigma and trauma. The practical results of the police department’s misconduct often include loss of transportation — and, consequently, employment — and separation of families.
But let me be clear: these tactics do not make Memphis safer. Discriminatory policing erodes the relationship between the community and the police, making it harder for law enforcement to detect and solve crime or promote public safety.
The violations our investigation uncovered stem from the Memphis Police Department’s deficient policies, supervision, training and accountability systems.
For example, the department uses traffic stops as a crime reduction strategy but has not adequately supervised those traffic stops or meaningfully assessed whether this approach actually reduces crime or violates rights.
Further, officers lack clear guidance on what they can and cannot do. Supervisors have ignored or excused clear legal violations. The department does not conduct thorough, objective investigations into alleged misconduct. When it does identify issues, the process undermines findings and minimizes misconduct.
The city has noted the cost of police reform and consent decrees. But the pattern or practice of constitutional violations our investigation identified costs the city too, and will not be stopped by hopeful words or preliminary changes. Achieving meaningful constitutional policing reform costs time and resources. But not implementing systemic reforms also imposes enormous costs — cost in terms of citizens’ rights that are trampled, personal and financial costs in injuries and deaths due to excessive, unnecessary use of force, costs in diminished public safety and millions of dollars in legal judgments against the city due to constitutional violations.
When the Justice Department works with police departments to achieve reform, these costs decrease. For example, our work in cities such as Seattle, Albuquerque and Baltimore has led not only to declines in use of excessive force but also to reductions in violent crime.
We stand ready to continue working with the city. The people of Memphis deserve fair, transparent, non-discriminatory constitutional policing — nothing less. We are prepared to work together to write a new chapter for the city. But make no mistake, the pattern or practice of misconduct we found in Memphis must end, and the federal law authorizes us to sue for an injunction if necessary to accomplish that objective.
Ensuring lawful, non-discriminatory, transparent and effective policing is a top priority for the Justice Department. Let me now talk about the sum total of this work. Since January 2021, the department has launched 12 pattern or practice investigations into law enforcement agencies. We also are enforcing 16 pre-existing agreements with law enforcement agencies across the country. These collective efforts are resource and time intensive but have fueled real reforms, including most recently in Seattle, Albuquerque, Baltimore, and more.
I want to thank those in Memphis who worked with us. I want to thank the leaders, advocates and family members who provided helpful information during our investigation. Memphis is the heartland of civil rights advocacy. The people of Memphis deserve to feel safe — in your homes, your neighborhoods and your cars — especially when you encounter police officers.
I’ll now turn the floor over to Acting U.S. Attorney Reagan Fondren.
This crime news article "Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks on Justice Department Findings of Civil Rights Violations by the Memphis Police Department and City of Memphis" was originally found on https://www.justice.gov/usao/pressreleases