Decarcerate Memphis holds discussion about police reform

Alex Coleman
·2 min read

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A year after the death of Tyre Nichols, some Memphians want to know if there’s been real police reform in the city and if we’ve seen an end to low-level traffic stops.

A group called Decarcerate Memphis believes it has the answer.

In front of Memphis City Hall, members of Decarcerate Memphis gathered with the hope of bringing attention to and derailing several state bills they say ban police accountability in Memphis and across Tennessee.

“We assume it will go before a House committee and we will fight it there and fight it every step of the way,” said Alex Hensley, a member of the group.

Decarcerate Memphis released a 16-page report they call “The People’s Report 2024.” The group says a year after the police beating of Tyre Nichols and the passage of ordinances to limit stops for low-level violations, there has been a surge in traffic stops.

“Our numbers don’t match their numbers. Maybe it’s because of a categorization of what a long citation is, but they don’t provide clarity about what that means,” said member Adam Nelson.

“We have spoken with Senator Brent Taylor and given him the BIPOC report from last year, which indicates a lot of the same patterns of racial discrimination and the ineffectiveness of traffic stops,” Hensley said.

WREG spoke with Senator Brent Taylor about his bill to prohibit cities and counties from passing laws that restrict routine traffic stops by police, as Memphis did last year.

RELATED: State lawmaker files bill to prevent local restrictions on pretextual police stops

“We need to take the handcuffs off our police so they can put the handcuffs on the criminals where they should be,” he said.

The Shelby County Republican says traffic stops for seemingly minor violations have resulted in major arrests of violent criminals and says his bill has nothing to do with race.

“We need to get back to some sanity and all of the virtue signaling going on surrounding this ordinance and trying to say it’s going to hurt people of color and poor people,” Taylor said. “The community at large is being hurt because we have a crime crisis.”

“His ideology is that the money that’s been spent on pretext policing is a good investment, which is absolutely false,” said Decarcerate Memphis member Josh Adams

It is a bill causing debate that, some say, allows law enforcement to do their job.

“The most important thing here: It is a tool for law enforcement to be able to use capture people who need to be apprehended,” Taylor said.

Others say the bill threatens police accountability.

“We’re building a statewide coalition to fight this bill because it jeopardizes not only work, we’ve been doing in Memphis, but the work that’s been happening in Nashville, work that’s been happening in Knoxville and all across this state,” Hensley said.

Senator Taylor’s bill is expected to be in committee Tuesday in the Tennessee General Assembly.

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