MPD granted $9.8 million to hire new officers
The Department of Justice will fund the salaries of 50 Memphis Police Department officers, as part of the Community Oriented Policing Services hiring program known as COPS.
The Memphis police department is one of nearly 600 law enforcement agencies set to receive a cumulative $400 million from the federal government, the office of U.S. Attorney for Western Tennessee, D. Michael Dunavant, announced Tuesday.
The COPS funding will put around 2,700 new officers on the street and in schools across the U.S. — as protests stoked by police violence continue to unfold, with the support of the majority of Americans, according to a Reuters/ Ipsos poll.
Operation Relentless Pursuit
In Memphis, 10 veteran officers will be assigned to the Operation Relentless Pursuit Task Force, which will work with Dunavant’s office and federal agents to investigate and prosecute gang, drug trafficking, and other violent crime suspects.
The influx of federal funds will cover their salaries and scores of new hires in the department. The COPS program will pay 75%, up to $125,000, toward the salary and benefits of each officer for three years.
The seven-city operation will “surge” federal resources in Albuquerque, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, and Milwaukee in addition to Memphis, Attorney General William Barr announced in December.
The DOJ designated the most funding among the seven cities to MPD, to hire the greatest number of officers, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced in May. Police Director Michael Rallings contended in December, when staffing was at 2,090, that the department needs 2,400 officers.
Accountability among multi-agency task forces in Memphis
At the announcement of Operation Relentless Pursuit, Barr was joined by the directors of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Bureau of Investigation; and U.S. Marshals Service.
Those agencies have long partnered with Memphis police and Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies on at least three task forces in which local law enforcement does not wear body cameras, officials confirmed in September.
The partnering agencies periodically discuss their joint arrests and drug and gun seizures at press conferences.
But in the last year, two incidents involving local task forces led by U.S. Marshals, made news that foreshadowed the outcry over police accountability sweeping the country today.
In June of 2019, members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive task force, which includes local law enforcement, fatally shot 20-year-old Brandon Webber, whom they had a warrant to arrest. Neighbors in Frayser immediately took to the street and were later tear gassed by police who said protesters threw rocks at them.
Meanwhile, a separate case wound through federal court, filed by a man who was shot at by a U.S. marshal in a traffic stop during Operation Violence Reduction, a 2015 partnership between federal and local agencies.
In November, a federal judge awarded the plaintiff, who was unarmed and complying with orders, more than $80,000 in damages for ongoing symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
U.S. Marshals Service Director Donald W. Washington spoke at the launch of Operation Relentless Pursuit. “The U.S. Marshals Service is proud of the integral role we play in...combating violent crime and enhancing public safety throughout our nation,” Washington said.
“We will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners to make communities safer by addressing violent crime at its core and taking the worst of the worst fugitives and other felons off the streets.”
Calls to defund the police grow
Regarding the impact of the new funding locally, Dunavant said in a press release, “Good government is about priorities, and includes putting resources where they are needed most.”
For citizens in West Tennessee, Dunavant said, “having strong and fully staffed police departments is vital to their communities.”
Amid seven straight days of protests in Memphis, some local activists have said what they want to see is enhanced de-escalation training and mental health resources provided officers.
Nationally, calls to defund the police, to invest money in education and healthcare instead, have grown.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office will also receive $1.4 million in Operation Relentless Pursuit funding, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
The money will pay overtime to Shelby County Multi-agency Gang Unit officers assigned Operation Relentless Pursuit; funding for a prosecutor dedicated to the “strategic prosecution” of Operation Relentless Pursuit arrests; vehicles; and “technological solutions to enhance investigation and prosecution of violent offenders.”
Another $492,000 in COPS funding has been designated two other police departments in West Tennessee. The City of Bolivar will receive funding to hire one officer and in Covington, the DOJ is providing funding to hire three new officers.
The COPS hiring program requires applicants to “explain how CHP funding will be used to implement community policing approaches.”
The Commercial Appeal requested information regarding the community policing strategies to be implemented with Operation Relentless Pursuit. Spokeswoman for Dunavant’s office, Cherri Green, said she had no details to provide.
Sarah Macaraeg writes investigations, features and the occasional breaking news story for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at sarah.macaraeg@commercialap peal.com or on Twitter @seramak.
Amid seven straight days of protests in Memphis, some local activists have said what they want to see is enhanced de-escalation training and mental health resources provided officers.