Protesters put pressure on search for MPD director
Who should get the job when Mike Rallings retires next year?
On Wednesday, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland committed to changing the experience that black Memphians have with the Memphis Police Department. By any measure, his choice for the new Memphis police director could be among the most important steps taken toward fulfilling that promise. MPD Director Mike Rallings is scheduled to retire on April 21, 2021, meaning he has just about 10 months left on the job. Strickland appointed Rallings in 2016. The appointment came after the then-interim director walked arm-in-arm with protesters off the Hernando de Soto Bridge.
The city of Memphis will start the search for Rallings’ replacement in a matter of weeks — in early July, according to the city. It will include both internal and external candidates and could be done by early 2021.
“Similar to 2016, we will go through a detailed process involving a multitude of stakeholders including community members, City Council, the Memphis Police Association, as well as, police experts,” said Alex Smith, the chief human resources officer for the city of Memphis. “We anticipate the search to take roughly six months to complete. We will be looking both internally as well as outside the department to find the right person for the job.”
“I am absolutely committed to fixing that problem of how the police deal with black people. For 400 years, we’ve sinned. Now, we need to fix it I don’t have all the answers. And, frankly, as a white man, I don’t know if I have all the questions.”
Mayor Jim Strickland
The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, and the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville this March as well as other deaths of African-americans at the hands of police over the past decade, has prompted more than a week of protests against police brutality in Memphis and across the country.
And, on Wednesday, the eighth consecutive night of protests, Strickland stood with a pair of local activists who have helped lead some of the demonstrations and pledged to fix the problem.
“As mayor, I am absolutely committed to fixing that problem of how the police deal with black people,” Strickland said during news conference outside I am a Man Plaza. “For 400 years, we’ve sinned. Now, we need to fix it I don’t have all the answers. And, frankly, as a white man, I don’t know if I have all the questions.”
Strickland pledged to continue the conversation with activists and said the conversations would lead to concrete actions.
Van Turner, a Shelby County Commissioner and president of the Memphis chapter of the NAACP, expressed confidence in Strickland’s ability to make a good decision in Rallings’ replacement, and voiced support for someone with experience, but a willingness to make change.
He also said, given the issues the country and city are facing, that “you would want a diverse candidate to replace Director Rallings. This city is 65 percent African American and I think the mayor would be justified in appointing another African-american to be director of the police department.
“I think you have to someone with experience and that’s able to handle the situation, but would want someone who is open and new to fresh ideas, that can deal with the times that we are under now,” Turner said. “The ideal candidate would have experience... but would be open ... to listening and implementing new ways of doing things.”
Turner said, “I think there’s a candidate that’s out there. That’s likely within the Memphis Police Department that could fulfill that role ... . There may be several candidates outside of the Memphis Police Department. I’ll leave that to the mayor and his selection team.”
The county commissioner did not name names. He noted that as part of his role leading Memphis Greenspace, the nonprofit that took over ownership of two city parks to help remove Confederate statues, he has interacted with a wide swath of MPD command staff.
“There are fine officers currently in leadership at the Memphis Police Department and anyone of them would make a great candidate,” Turner said. “But, again, that’s with the mayor ... . What we do know is that given these times, we want to make sure whoever is seated in that office is able to appreciate what’s going on and can adapt to what’s going on ... . We look forward to seeing who that person would be.”
A local expert on the relationship between African-american communities and police described Strickland’s decision as critical, but also repeated a criticism some activists have had for the mayor in recent days — that he only stood with a certain group of activists on Wednesday, not other factions that have been leading protests.
Dr. Duane Loynes of Rhodes College described the history of policing in the U.S. as rooted in the 400-year history of slavery and oppression against black people that has been in existence before the country itself.
He noted the recent deaths of Floyd and others followed historical parallels that existed through slavery and Jim Crow and had only shape-shifted, not abated in modern times. That backdrop makes Strickland’s decision important, Loynes said, but he noted that the rankand-file of police departments everywhere have to be willing to stop and hold one another accountable for their behavior.
“It’s going to be critical... but all of this is systemic... But the question is who are you going to bring in especially if the mayor and other administrators who don’t seem to quite understand the nature of the real problem. What’s the likelihood that they’re going to appoint someone who differs in the critical way that’s necessary,” Loynes said. “You need to bring in a renegade, a revolutionary who has a track record of really dealing with poor behavior.”
Samuel Hardiman covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by email at samuel.hardiman@ commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter at @samhardiman.