Following a report on the Memphis Police Department by the U.S. Department of Justice, city officials have refused to accept a federal consent decree. (Photo by Karen Pulfer Focht )
In the wake of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) scathing report on the Memphis Police Department (MPD), city officials have pledged reform. A task force has been assembled, and retired federal Judge Bernice Donald has been appointed as an independent monitor. Mayor Paul Young and city leadership want us to believe they are taking meaningful steps toward accountability.
And I believe them . . . kind of.
I believe Mayor Young, City Attorney Tannera George, and their administration genuinely want to improve public safety and rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. But wanting to do right is not the same as doing right.
And right now, Memphis’s approach to police reform is starting to resemble a familiar pattern: delayed justice disguised as progress.
For those of us who have spent years pushing for justice in Memphis, this moment feels eerily familiar. After the police killing of Darrius Stewart in 2015 and the Bridge Demonstration in 2016, we heard promises of reform. Nothing changed. After the violent 2022 traffic stop that led to the death of Tyre Nichols, we were told that the city would take accountability seriously. Yet, the same system remains intact. The DOJ investigation only confirmed what Black communities in Memphis have known for years — that the MPD engages in unconstitutional policing, particularly against Black residents.
So why should we believe that this time will be any different?
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Rather than entering into a federal consent decree — which would have provided court-enforced oversight and clear accountability mechanisms — the City of Memphis decided to police itself. This is not real reform. This is a strategic decision to avoid federal oversight, one that places the burden of progress on the very communities that have suffered under police misconduct. It’s a longstanding playbook used by local governments to delay meaningful change.
Announce a new initiative.
Appoint a commission or task force.
Hold a few public meetings to signal transparency.
Wait until public attention fades.
This method allows city officials to claim they’re doing something without actually changing the system that allows abuse to persist.
The newly-formed police reform task force has already been met with skepticism. Community organizers and activists who have long fought for police accountability were not meaningfully engaged in the formation of this group. The process for selecting task force members was not transparent. There is no clear mandate for what the task force will achieve, let alone how it will enforce recommendations.
Who is this task force truly serving — the people of Memphis or the institutions that benefit from the status quo?
We’ve seen task forces and commissions come and go, producing reports that gather dust while systemic injustices persist. The real test of this initiative is whether it forces accountability onto MPD or simply extends the timeline until public pressure dies down.
Despite the DOJ’s detailed report outlining egregious misconduct within the MPD, Memphis officials have not provided any proof that those responsible have been held accountable. How many officers named in the DOJ report have been fired? How many have faced meaningful disciplinary action? How many are still patrolling Memphis streets?
The silence on these questions is telling.
Meanwhile, community members are asked to “be patient” while a task force deliberates for two years before even presenting a reform plan. Two years. Two more years of unchecked police power. Two more years of systemic neglect. Two more years of Memphis prioritizing institutional stability over community safety.
And by then, the national political landscape may have shifted, making reform even more difficult — if not impossible.
I fear that police-community relations will not improve in the coming years, but worsen — especially given the broader political climate. We are moving into an era where the federal government may not be an ally in police reform, but an obstacle. If Memphis officials fail to act decisively now, they may soon find themselves in a national environment even less inclined to police accountability than the one we have today.
Memphis does not need another commission, another study, another delayed promise.
What it needs is action—swift, uncompromising, and unflinching.
Judge Donald and the task force must increase transparency and expedite their deliverables—or they will be left to explain the next tragedy when police violence inevitably happens again.
The mayor and city leadership have a choice: Do what is politically safe or do what is morally right.
Memphis is watching. And history will not forget.
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