Rallings bids adieu to MPD
After three decades in the Memphis Police Department, and five years as the head of MPD, Director Michael Rallings has retired. His last day was Wednesday. h Rallings answered questions from The Commercial Appeal about his years as the head of the department at a time when the U.S. saw everything from consistent anti-police brutality protests to a pandemic — and what his hopes are for the department going forward. h The Commercial Appeal’s questions, and Rallings’ answers, have been edited for length and clarity.
The CA: You’re ending a decades-long career with Memphis police. Any idea what the next chapter is? What are you going to jump into next?
Rallings: “Hopefully, a pool... I’m not in a rush to figure the next thing out. I just want to step back and breathe for a second. But, we’re still in a global pandemic, so it’s not like I can just pack my bag and leave. There’s too much going on.”
The CA: You’re handing over the department to the next director in a tumultuous time. There’s heightened tension between police and communities, a pandemic, and now, permitless carry has been signed into law in Tennessee. Between all of these pieces, are there particular issues that you are most concerned about for the next director?
Rallings: “The pandemic appears to be here for the long term, and does not want to leave us. It will be an ongoing challenge. But when you think about permitless carry...ten
‘‘I hope I have, in some small way, helped to make a positive impact on the men and women of MPD and the citizens of Memphis.’’
Michael Rallings Retiring Memphis Police Department director
nessee is already one of the leading states for gun violence, for children being shot and killed. It’s mind-blowing that permitless carry would come to a state that already had a great permit process. I just think it’s going to get worse, so I really fear for the challenges that this department and the new director will face in what is already an uphill battle in dealing with the aggravated assaults and homicides.
“You couldn’t make this stuff up if you wanted to — there’s been a global pandemic, economic collapse, protests, a contentious presidential election, an attack on the nation’s capital, and now reluctance for people to take vaccines. I just don’t know, I think the challenges will still be here. I think the men and women of MPD, and the new director will continue to push and figure out ways to deliver a high level of police services to the citizens of Memphis.”
The CA: Is there anything the elected officials could do to combat the new constitutional carry law? Or do you think it’s here to stay?
Rallings: “I think there’s always hope. But there’s way too much reliance in Memphis on the government. Everybody is waiting for the government to do something. Well, I screamed at the top of my lungs for five years about the guns-incars law. About the need for us to have 2,500 police officers, for us to double-down on everything that we could do to hire and retain police officers. But, I think there’s been wasted opportunities where some had really dedicated themselves to opposing law enforcement, and we just couldn’t work together. I think now what you see from the pandemic is the absence of law enforcement being heavily engaged in communities by touching young people’s lives and conducting high-level, proactive policing. Because we have been severely impacted by the pandemic. Over 1,400 of our employees have been out at some point, due to the pandemic.”
The CA: How will officers prepare for permitless carry and the knowledge that anyone without a prior conviction, one that would disqualify them, could carry a gun without a minimum of some training?
Rallings: “Well, they’re going to assume that everyone is armed. I was having a conversation with the district attorney general, Amy Weirich, trying to figure out what exactly the law means and how will it impact our procedures. All of our officers, I think, are now being placed in a dangerous situation. There’s already too many guns in our community falling into the hands of unauthorized individuals, and I think the legislature has made it easier. It’s tragic that our men and women will have to try and mitigate that, and hopefully will not have to give their life as a result of a bad law and bad legislation.”
The Ca:speaking of protests and declining interests in people wanting to join police departments, much of the collective focus has been on police killings of citizens, and the resulting fallout. What do you hear of from rank-and-file officers that have routine contact with the communities they police? Does media have the whole story when it comes to capturing relationships between police and their communities?
Rallings: “I don’t think law enforcement is accurately represented. At all. Especially in Memphis. I know the negative story runs rampant before anything positive can go out. But, what I often hear, from citizens who contact my office directly is, ‘Director, your officer saved my child’s life by delivering a life-saving Narcan after an overdose’ or ‘your officer delivered first aid to my child.’
“Each one of our officers carries a little minifirst aid kit, we call it a ‘blow-out’ kit, and it’s used to treat gunshot wounds. Our officers deploy these kits several times a year to help save lives. Between the Narcan, the blow-out kits, pulling folks from a fire... that’s who our officers are. And they have been feeding, clothing, and finding housing for folks that fall on hard times. They do great stuff every day, and there’s a false narrative that has been promoted across the city and the nation, and we kinda throw police officers in one particular bag that is not appropriate.
“We as law enforcement — we can always improve, but I wish people could recognize what we are doing well, narrowly focus on what we can improve upon, and not paint law enforcement with such a broad brush.”
The CA: What kind of a person is needed at the helm of MPD? What are you hoping to see in the next director, and do you have a preferred candidate?
Rallings: “I prefer the candidate that God has sent to Memphis to do this very hard work. I think that Mayor Strickland is well equipped to choose the next police director. We’ve gone through the different interview panels. We gave feedback on the strengths needed and the areas of opportunity for the candidate. And so, I do think he’s going to pick the right person, and I know that that person will come in and lead the men and women of the MPD.
“And, as a career person of the Memphis Police Department, I’d always prefer an internal candidate, but that doesn’t exclude an external candidate, because there are some great law enforcement leaders all over the nation. I just hope the city, the department, give that police director the support they’ll need to lead during those most turbulent times that I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
The CA: One of your first highly visible acts as then-interim director of MPD was walking off the Hernando de Soto bridge in 2016, arm-in-arm with protestors following the police killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. I don’t think anyone could have predicted how chaotic the next five years would be. When you think about the past five years, are there any regrets? Are there moments where you wished you had steered the police department in a different direction?
Rallings: “It’s been interesting, I can tell you that. I’m thankful for the 30 and a half years in the military and the 25 years that I had at the police department and time on the command staff. I think the combination of those years helped give me some type of preparation. But I really have to thank God for not just leaving me out here flapping in the wind, for the help and support. Because you need a bunch of people around you who are smarter than you are to help you figure things out and hopefully make the right decision.
“It’s been a bumpy road, from the bridge protest, but we’ve done some great work: from trying to serve the community while being grossly understaffed, from trying to reduce violent crime — which we did in ‘17, ‘18 and ‘19 — we reduced violent crime by 13%. We graduated 700 recruits from the academy, and we promoted 700 officers to sergeant all the way up to colonel and deputy chief, so we’ve done a lot of great things. We got rid of the backlog of rape kits; turned a crisis into a national model. We brought back the (Public Safety Technicians) program and created the Blue Path program.
“We took down the Confederate statues, and welcomed in a safe celebration of MLK50. We set up a gun crime intelligence center, we continued to do community outreach, we expanded the multi-agency gang unit. We deployed the body-worn cameras and in-car camera systems so the list goes on and on but the good work we’ve done... i’m definitely proud of the work our team has done.
“A lot of great work has happened during some very turbulent times, so, I’m glad we survived and we’ve been able to really thrive in some situations. The disappointments would be that aggravated assaults are up by almost 30%, homicides are up, so many Memphians have been impacted by violent crime, kids have lost their lives, so again, we’ve done some good things, but there’s a regret that the community has not shown up in the way that I was hoping. It will take all of us working together to reduce the violent crime in a significant way.”
The CA: Any parting message for the citizens of Memphis?
Rallings: “The greatest honor of my life has been to serve as director of police. I hope I have, in some small way, helped to make a positive impact on the men and women of MPD and the citizens of Memphis. It’s been an absolute honor for me to serve in this capacity, and my hope is that the next director will get the support they need to lead this department in unprecedented times.”