Strickland unveils advisory council

Members tasked with helping re-imagine MPD

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland revealed a citizen advisory committee on Wednesday that is tasked with helping re-imagine the Memphis Police Department.

It includes 13 members of the community, some of whom have endorsed Strickland in past political campaigns, and a pastor who criticized the mayor’s follow-up to this spring’s protests.

The council is part of what the Strickland administration is describing as phase two of its work to re-imagine MPD. It follows protests in Memphis, nationwide calls for police reform and protests over systemic racism and law enforcement killings. The new advisory body also comes months ahead of Strickland replacing Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings as part of the director’s scheduled retirement.

“The focus of the advisory council will be to work with members of the community to find substantive, realistic and measurable ways to improve community relations with law enforcement, help enhance accountability and transparency within the Memphis Police Department, and to make recommendations on our use of force policies,” the city said in a news release.

According to the release, the group is expected to meet virtually over the next six weeks and hear from members of the community. Coplexity, a Memphisbased leadership advisory group, will facilitate the sessions, the city said.

After 45 days, the group is expected to make recommendations and then re

view those recommendations for a further 45 days and present final recommendations for the administration. The advisory council is broken up into four committees — clergy, civil rights, law enforcement and legislative

Here are the 13 community members, by committee.

Clergy h Apostle Bill Adkins, Greater Imani Church Cathedral of Faith

h Dr. J. Lawrence Turner, Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church

h Pastor Vernon Horner, Greater New Bethel Baptist Church

Civil rights h Van Turner, President of the Memphis NAACP, Shelby County Commission

h Tonya Sesley-baymon, CEO of the Memphis Urban League

h Walter Womack, Southern Christian Leadership Conference Legislative h State Sen. Raumesh Akbari h Phyllis Aluko, Shelby County Public Defender

h Cheyenne Johnson, Memphis City Council

h Eddie Jones, Shelby County Commission

Law enforcement h Bill Gibbons, Memphis and Shelby County Crime Commission

h John Covington, Memphis Police Association

h Rosalind Harris, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office

The city said the civil rights committee will interact with activists and nonprofit organizations; the clergy will interact with faith-based groups; the legislative committee will interact with constituents and the business community and the law enforcement committee will serve as a resource for the whole group, according to the release. City spokesman Dan Springer said Coplexity, run by Cheryl Green, will receive about $60,000 for facilitating the advisory council.

Members include Strickland allies and critics

The committee includes at least two members — Van Turner and Adkins — who endorsed Strickland in the 2019 mayoral race.

Lawrence Turner of Mississippi Boulevard criticized Strickland after he met with members of the clergy and activists following weeks of protests against systemic racism and police brutality this spring.

He was among a group of clergy who signed an open letter to Strickland. The letter said, in part, “As African American clergy who participated in the meetings, we found the discussions to be frustrating and disappointing overall, characterized largely by those who represent the power structures of Memphis claiming that the processes in place are sufficient.”

Van Turner has also expressed disapproval with some actions from MPD in recent months. He was critical of how Victoria Jones, founder of The Collective, an arts nonprofit in Orange Mound, was taken into custody in the wee of hours the morning of May 31.

“It seems like five or six officers jumped on top of her. It’s overly aggressive to me for one to jump on the one black female. Those officers just surrounded her on the ground. I don’t think it was handled well,” Turner said on May 31.

Gibbons, the head of the crime commission, has been a vocal advocate for more police to combat violent crime.

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