Memphis Mayor Paul Young plans to enforce Tyre Nichols ordinances, other crime initiatives

Memphis Mayor Paul Young said Thursday he plans to enforce a slate of ordinances that were passed in the wake of Tyre Nichols' death by the Memphis City Council.

The ordinances, which include one that says the Memphis Police Department cannot make traffic stops for certain low-level violations and another that says police cannot initiate a traffic stop in an unmarked vehicle, were not being enforced by previous Mayor Jim Strickland's administration, according to a letter from Strickland that news organization MLK50 reported on Wednesday evening.

Strickland, in that letter, voiced concerns over the legality of the city council passing the ordinances, saying he believes they violate the city's charter and infringe on the powers of the mayor's office. The letter was sent to city council members Dec. 29, two days before the end of Strickland's tenure.

After the press conference, MPD Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis said the department had been enforcing those ordinances as internal policies.

"We have to have policies that mirror city ordinance, so we change the policies anyway," Davis said. "We didn't have to wait for the mayor to sign or not sign. Our policies have been changed. Our offices have had roll call training, and they have been operating under those ordinances. We haven't had any issues. I think that was a point of clarification that needs to be made."

Young responded to the question about enforcing the ordinances at a scheduled press conference Thursday morning at City Hall. It was his first press conference in the building's Hall of Mayors since taking office on Monday, and followed a closed-door meeting between a number of officials that Young dubbed as part of the "public safety task force."

"During the campaign trail, as I ran for mayor, we talked a lot about having a pandemic-like response [to crime]," Young said. "What we meant when we said that was that was that we needed to galvanize all of the players into one conversation where we can focus strategically on how we're going to reduce crime and violence in our community. Today is the first step to doing that."

The meeting included representatives from MPD, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, the Shelby County District Attorney's Office, the Department of Justice, the Memphis City Council along with senators and representatives from the Tennessee General Assembly.

"The energy was high, people were very receptive to the dialogue," Young said. "We started the conversation by saying that we wanted this to be a dialogue where we talk about things we align on. We know that there's going to be differences in opinion on different issues, but we start from the basis that we all want safety for the residents of our community.

"The question is how do we get there?"

Young said the meeting showed him just how many things are going on in separate "pockets," but that his hope is to make sure the work comes together to have a broader impact.

Discussion, he said, touched on gun legislation, but that this first meeting was more of an overview. Young also said that they opted to talk about gun legislation later in a "subcommittee conversation."

"[Gun violence] is definitely the number one problem," Young said. "We had some dialogue during the meeting around gun legislation, and how there may be opportunities for us to figure out things that can work for us locally, and maybe we can work with the state that can allow us to do some things that are more conducive to the environment here in Memphis."

Other topics included MPD's efforts to focus on repeat offenders, which the department has previously said are responsible for "80% of the crime" in Memphis, the DA's office fast-tracking violent crime cases, juvenile court working with local organizations to make referrals that support young people and families and the DOJ bringing in additional federal prosecutors to focus on violent crime. State legislators also spoke about upcoming bills that they will be introducing, including one that would increase the penalties for stealing firearms and another that would target drag racing on Memphis' streets.

"This is not the last time that you'll see us together," Young said. "We are on a mission to support our city. We're on a mission to support the citizens of this community. We hear our citizens loud and clear. They want to see action. They want to see us strategizing, and figuring out how we're going to reduce the chaos, the hurt and the pain that we see in our community."

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [email protected], or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis crime: Mayor Paul Young to enforce Tyre Nichols ordinances