The DOJ’s Community
Oriented Policing Services team met with Memphis’ citizen police oversight
board today as part of its collaborative review of the Memphis Police
Department.
Three of the five-member COPS crew in Memphis this week then joined
the Civilian Law Enforcement Review
Board for the first half of its monthly meeting.
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| COPS Supervisor Keenon James |
“It will be sometime this fall before we make a report,”
said Keenon James, supervisory
program specialist with the COPS office.
“We are trying to make sure we give a truly balanced and
holistic assessment on things the people need to know,” James said.
When called upon by CLERB chairman Ralph White to introduce themselves, only James spoke, and all he
said was:
“We appreciate the opportunity to be here and be involved in
the great things going on in the city of Memphis.” James introduced Diane Reagan and Michael
Durden of the COPS office and said “…we are here to see and observe.”
Before meeting with CLERB, the COPS team split up for ride-alongs with MPD patrol officers. James said there were no dramatic incidents while cruising Memphis streets.
On Tuesday, three members of the COPS team met with Paul Garner, organizing director at Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, and Meaghan Ybos, founder of People for Enforcement of Rape Laws (PERL).
Before meeting with CLERB, the COPS team split up for ride-alongs with MPD patrol officers. James said there were no dramatic incidents while cruising Memphis streets.
On Tuesday, three members of the COPS team met with Paul Garner, organizing director at Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, and Meaghan Ybos, founder of People for Enforcement of Rape Laws (PERL).
KRAMER ON THE WAY
OUT?
CLERB vice-chairman Bruce
Kramer told the board his term was up at the end of July and he did not
expect to be reappointed by the mayor to serve another term.
An attorney, Kramer sued the city and MPD on behalf of the
ACLU and four individuals for violations of the 1978 consent decree between the
Department of Justice and the city over police spying on citizens.
Kramer had said at an earlier meeting that Mayor Jim Strickland’s legal advisor Alan Crone called him and asked him to
resign, citing a possible conflict. The
sentiment of CLERB members was then and continues to be strongly in favor of
Kramer remaining on the board.
FINALLY A WEBSITE,
REALLY?
Representatives of the Neely Agency LLC made a presentation
of a website for CLERB, which was required by an ordinance that became law in
November 2015. The ordinance requires
that CLERB have a website that citizens can use to make complaints against
police, see the status of complaints and get other information.
“We’ve been working with them about this for more than a year,” said Collin Johnson of the Neely PR
agency. “We plan to launch the website
Aug. 1.”
CLERB has not made public the terms of the contract with
Neely. This was the first meeting at
which anyone from the agency has made a presentation to show a mock-up of the
website. In fact, until today we did not
realize that CLERB had retained a PR agency to do a website.
The city's contract with Neely was executed in April, 2017, after months of talks, and the cost is $14,135, as researched by Fergus Nolan of MemphisTruth.org. We have not seen the scope of work. Off-hand, the Neely folks seemed capable, and this apparently was a black-owned business contract. However, this is a steep price for a website, and it better have some high-powered functionality and include much long-term maintenance to come close to justifying the expense.
A current search of CLERB websites brings up three different websites -- each with inaccurate, outdated and conflicting information. At the bottom of this post are links to the three websites. Here is a screenshot of what we believe is the most recent of the three, which states the board consists of nine members (it's 13).
The city's contract with Neely was executed in April, 2017, after months of talks, and the cost is $14,135, as researched by Fergus Nolan of MemphisTruth.org. We have not seen the scope of work. Off-hand, the Neely folks seemed capable, and this apparently was a black-owned business contract. However, this is a steep price for a website, and it better have some high-powered functionality and include much long-term maintenance to come close to justifying the expense.
A current search of CLERB websites brings up three different websites -- each with inaccurate, outdated and conflicting information. At the bottom of this post are links to the three websites. Here is a screenshot of what we believe is the most recent of the three, which states the board consists of nine members (it's 13).
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SHOWTIME
Strickland confidant and paid advisor Crone – his title is special
counsel to the mayor-senior policy advisor -- made his first-ever appearance at
a CLERB meeting during the Strickland administration, and he gave a rosy little talk clearly for the benefit of the
DOJ-COPS folks.
Sarcasm Alert: This was the most "transparent" that CLERB has ever been with
the public and reporters, who have struggled to get minutes of meetings and
other documents, as Crone’s game was see-through. Crone operates a private law
practice while receiving a salary of $91,350 from the city during the last fiscal
year.
City Council liaison to CLERB Worth Morgan has not
attended a meeting since May, 2016, when he was trying to delete CLERB’s limited
and convoluted subpoena authority.
GLACIAL SPEED
The inability of CLERB and its administrator Virgnia Wilson to adhere to the CLERB
law and get a website in place is not the only example of CLERB moving at all
glacial speed.
The board sustained – agreed with – two citizen complaints
in November, those of Paul Garner
and Reginald Johnson. It took them until April to write letters of
recommendation to police director Mike
Rallings as they are required by ordnance.
After Rallings rejected their recommendations, at the May meeting CLERB
members agreed to compose followup letters to Rallings with greater elaboration
on their decisions. As of today’s July
meeting, those letters are still being kicked around by CLERB members who
volunteered to write them, and board members discussed letting each other look
at the drafts and make comments before any such missives were actually sent.
HAZARDOUS RETALIATION?
They say no good deed goes unpunished. Johnson had complained to CLERB that police
beat and arrested him after he had called 9-1-1 on behalf of a man who knocked
on Johnson’s door late at night and said he had been shot.
Johnson said police had placed a “hazard” on his house,
meaning multiple police officers show up any time there is a call from his
residence – even for something as harmless as his daughter calling about an
accident report as happened Feb. 20, 2017.
Johnson said he believed it was retaliation on behalf of
police for his complaining to CLERB and for making statements to the media
about police not investigating the murder of his son Samuel on Oct. 31,
2014. Johnson asked CLERB to intervene
with the police chief to get the designation removed from his home.
“I don’t call police about anything, I’m afraid to,” Johnson
said.
The board’s sentiment was supportive of Johnson’s plea.
OUTDATED CLERB WEBSITES
Three websites -- each of them with outdated or wrong information -- are searchable:
Three websites -- each of them with outdated or wrong information -- are searchable:
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