Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis to continue to serve in Paul Young's mayoral administration
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis will continue to oversee the Memphis Police Department after Memphis Mayor-elect Paul Young takes office in 2024, he said Thursday after a luncheon with Memphis business leaders.
The announcement followed a campaign, and transition cycle, where Young was noncommittal as to Davis' future with the department, saying he would not make a decision until he spoke with Davis after the election.
At the Greater Memphis Chamber's chairman's luncheon, Young spoke vaguely about conversations and the work he and his team have done with Davis since the election.
"I feel confident that she can and will be able to lead us into a better space with regards to public safety," Young said to reporters.
Young's chief of communications, Penelope Huston, confirmed to The Commercial Appeal in a text message that Davis would be continuing as Memphis' top cop.
In the weeks since the election, and while on the campaign trail, Young has said at events and told news outlets his administration will have a "pandemic-level" response to crime in Memphis. That response, he said, will bring together a number of entities — from the governmental and law enforcement sides to community and religious leaders — to tackle Memphis' rising crime rate.
He also mentioned the need for more communication with the public about what the city is doing to combat crime, including the potential for regularly scheduled public meetings.
During his speech to the chamber Thursday, Young said his team is looking into the possibility of creating a public safety official outside of the police department in his administration.
Young will be sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1 and previously told The CA he plans to have a sweeping plan to combat crime within his first 100 days in office.
Davis was brought on as police chief in mid-2021 after the retirement of Michael Rallings.
She was embroiled in controversy after Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old motorist, was beaten by officers with MPD's SCORPION Unit, which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace In Our Neighborhoods.
Davis created the SCORPION Unit within months of being hired as police chief with the intent to curb violent crime in Memphis. The majority of the unit's arrests, The CA reported on in March, were for non-violent drug offenses and driving offenses.
Three weeks after Nichols was beaten, and amid public pressure, Davis disbanded the unit. It has since been compared to the Atlanta Police Department's RED DOG Unit, which Davis oversaw during her time in Atlanta.
The Department of Justice is also in the midst of a pattern-or-practice investigation into MPD, the highest and most thorough investigation the DOJ can undertake when investigating law enforcement agencies. The investigation from the DOJ came months after Nichols' death.
Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis to say on in Paul Young administration
