DOJ investigating Memphis Police Department in wake of Tyre Nichols killing

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that it is investigating the Memphis Police Department over potential constitutional and civil rights violations in the wake of Tyre Nichols’s death earlier this year.

The probe will examine whether the police department engages in a pattern or practice of making unlawful stops, searches and arrests, using excessive force or employing racially discriminatory policing practices against the city’s Black residents.

The Memphis Police Department came under scrutiny after Nichols was brutally beaten by officers during a traffic stop in January. The 29-year-old died from his injuries several days later, sparking national outrage.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke emphasized Thursday that the DOJ’s investigation is “not based on a single incident,” pointing to several reports of Memphis police officers using excessive force and indications that the department’s traffic enforcement focuses disproportionately on the Black community. 

“Our decision to open this investigation now is not based on a single incident or event, nor is it confined to a specific unit or type of unit within the Memphis Police Department,” Clarke said at a press conference.

The DOJ previously announced in March that its Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) was conducting a review of the Memphis Police Department’s policies and practices related to the use of force, de-escalation and specialized units.

The COPS review is “separate and independent” from the newly announced investigation and will continue to provide “technical assistance” to the police department while the probe is ongoing, the DOJ noted. 

“This pattern or practice investigation has a different purpose than the COPS review,” Clarke said Thursday. “This federal civil rights investigation will examine whether the police department has violated the Constitution or federal civil rights laws in a systemic way.”

“Our investigation will be thorough and objective,” she added. “We will follow the facts and the law wherever they lead. We hope community members throughout Memphis will trust us [and share] their stories, their experiences and views about public safety in the city.”

The Justice Department recently concluded probes into the Louisville and Minneapolis police departments. Both investigations were launched in the wake of high-profile killings of Black residents by police: the March 2020 shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville and the May 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

In a scathing report released in March, the DOJ found that the Louisville Metro Police Department regularly used excessive force, conducted searches without valid warrants, used no-knock warrants and discriminated against Black people.

A June report also concluded that the Minneapolis Police Department routinely used excessive force and unlawfully discriminated against Black and Native American people.