Should MPD know your address?

Practice could expose those who have COVID-19

At a virtual press conference Monday, Michael Rallings, director of the Memphis Police Department, asked people to ponder the following question.

“… Who responds to the 911 calls when we run out of first responders?” he asked.

Of course, there’s no real answer there. No answer when it comes to how many firefighters, police officers and emergency workers could be exposed to a virus that could take their lives as they’re trying to save the lives of others.

But what’s also not an answer is for the Shelby County Health Department to give the MPD and the Memphis Fire Department the addresses of people who are suffering from COVID-19 without their consent.

Yet that’s exactly what’s happening. For the past few weeks the health department has been providing those addresses – sans names – to those agencies. Viewed through a simple lens, it makes sense: Knowing whether workers are responding to an address where a COVID-19 patient lives can help the departments prioritize the use of scarce personal protection equipment.

Unfortunately, that lens is clouded by the past.

While such information might protect emergency workers, it might also expose people who have COVID-19, or who live with someone who does, to discrimination and ostracization if it gets into the wrong hands.

And, some time ago, when it came to information regarding citizens, the wrong hands were those of the MPD.

In 2018, U.S. District Jon P. Mccalla ruled that the MPD violated a 1978 consent decree against political surveillance by spying on activist groups such as Black Lives Matter.

Among other things, the spying consisted of the department creating a fake social media account under the name,

“Bob Smith,” and surveillance of activities as benign as Black-owned Food Truck Sunday.

The MPD also shared that information with Fedex, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Shelby County Schools, and other potential employers.

The Rev. Earle Fisher, pastor of Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church and an activist who was surveilled by the MPD, fears that it could share COVID-19 information in the same way.

“When I heard about this [COVID-19 addresses being shared] this is what I immediately thought of,” Fisher said. “Private information was being shared with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Shelby County Schools … this has echoes of that …”

So, can COVID-19 patients and those who might be living with them be certain that the MPD won’t allow their test results to wind up in the hands of entities with the power to impact their livelihood or future?

Also, could the idea that a positive COVID-19 test will attract police attention lead many to refuse to be tested?

Sadly, for the 63 percent of Memphians who are African-american, but who make up 70 percent of COVID-19 deaths and are already leery of law enforcement and testing for the disease, that’s a possibility.

Such concerns aren’t just limited to the MPD, though.

Lawmakers are questioning a request by Gov. Bill Lee to the state health department to provide law enforcement entities throughout the state a daily list of names and addresses of people who have tested positive for the virus.

Republicans are concerned about it violating privacy rights and Democrats, like Rep. G.A. Hardaway, Dmemphis, and chairman of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators, are concerned about the information being misused.

“Our membership has heard from many in the African-american community who are concerned by this release of personal data without their knowledge, as well as many in the Hispanic community who fear possible other uses of the information,” Hardaway said in a press release.

“There are better ways to protect our first responders while, at the same time, giving proper notification to the citizens involved.”

Hopefully, COVID-19 won’t cause Memphis to lose first responders, as Rallings’ question implied.

But maybe the MPD and fire department should continue its hard push for adequate PPE for first responders – especially since they can contract coronavirus asymptomatically – rather than remain on a course that could lead to legal challenges.

“We want the first responders to be protected,” Fisher said. “But should they be protected at the expense of those who aren’t in law enforcement?”

And that question, like many others at this point in the pandemic, has no simple answer.

You can reach Tonyaa Weathersbee at 901-568-3281, tonyaa.weathersbee@commercialappeal.com or follow her on Twitter: @tonyaajw

ARIEL COBBERT/ THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Memphis Police Department Director Michael Rallings addresses the media about Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed legislation on Feb. 27.