Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis to serve in interim role, confirmation tabled indefinitely

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis will serve in an interim role going forward, following a vote to table her confirmation by the Memphis City Council Tuesday afternoon.

Memphis Mayor Paul Young suggested to the council during committee that Davis serve in an interim role to see what impact she can have on crime, police policy and community engagement before bringing another vote to the floor.

Davis was scheduled to have her confirmation vote take place in the full council meeting Tuesday, but Young told reporters after the vote was tabled that the idea was a last-minute decision.

"[The decision was made] 15 minutes ago," Young said. "Obviously, in politics, you count the votes and it could be seven-six either way. I think that it's important for us, rather than giving a vote, to get to work. I hear the council loud and clear. I hear the community loud and clear. I believe in Chief Davis. She's going to be the chief moving forward until we come back and otherwise is proven."

There was no timeline for when Davis' position would be put to a confirmation vote, but Young said it would be determined by the city council. Success, Young said, would look like people feeling more comfortable with the level of crime than they are currently.

"I think you'll see activities around reduction of crime, how we're engaging public safety players over and beyond law enforcement, because I believe that this community all knows that if we're truly going to get public safety in this community, it's not going to be just because of law enforcement," he said. "It's going to be because of the other components that engage our young people and engage people and reduce poverty. We want to make sure that we are doing that. I think it's one of those things that, when you see, you're gonna feel it. That we're heading in the right direction. We want to see the tenor change in this community, and we're going to get to work in doing so."

When Davis walked into the Memphis City Council chambers after the committee vote to table her confirmation, she was swarmed by supporters, many appearing to be part of the Memphis branch of Delta Sigma Theta, the sorority that Davis is part of. After minutes of congestion, and a number of gavels from Council Chariman JB Smiley Jr, the scrum cleared up and Smiley spoke to those gathered in chambers.

"One thing I will recognize before anybody is when my lens is jaded," Smiley said. "I will be direct with everybody in this room, on this council. I believe that my lens was jaded because of the way this body was treated by the previous administration, but no fault to Mayor Young and not necessarily the fault of Chief C.J. Davis."

Smiley, who voted against Davis' confirmation in a committee vote Jan. 9, went on to say that Davis working as interim chief could be a way to move Memphis in the right direction.

"What people care about is are we saving lives? Are we moving Memphis in the right direction?" he said. "I think Mayor Young understands that. Mayor Young understands that this is not a dictatorship. It's a partnership... We have to find a way to move forward."

After the council meeting moved on from Davis' confirmation, and into the rest of its agenda, Young and Davis took questions from reporters across the hall. In that press conference, Davis said she did not feel additional pressure moving into an interim role.

"The reason I say that is because I always operate on the accelerated," she said. "I do things two ways: fast and faster. I believe in that, and I don't want to unnecessarily wait for results. And we have been able to see results in the communication that I'm having with our officers and our command staff, say, 'You're doing great work. Let's keep our foot on the accelerator so that we can show this community that Memphis can be better and that we can get to a place where our citizens feel safe in their homes, they feel safe commuting, they feel safe in retail establishments as well.'"

Davis later added that she believed the department and the city are already moving in the right direction with crime, citing drops across all of MPD's precincts.

"I would love to be able to share some of those stories about how all nine of our precincts right now are seeing reductions in crime because of the work that my men and women, and our commanders, are doing in the community," Davis said. "The community needs to know that because we're part of the community. Our community members are part of the work that we do, and I want them to know how hard our officers are working too."

Young said there will be no search for another police chief while Davis is operating in her interim role, saying, "She is our chief, it's just the interim title."

Young did not say whether the U.S. Department of Justice's pattern or practice investigation was part of the reason for shifting Davis' title to an interim role, but said the city is working with the DOJ as they continue the investigation. Davis said the department has been in "constant communication" with the DOJ, and that they are "conforming to what the DOJ is guiding us to do" as it pertains to policies and training.

Davis and Young did not specify which policies those were, but the two said there were "numerous" examples and Young said that they will be made public "in time."

Davis' confirmation hearing in a committee meeting on Jan. 9 was rocky, with multiple councilmembers questioning her record on fighting crime, enforcing reforms the council passed and her ability to lead the department.

Days before leaving office, former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland sent a letter to the Memphis City Council saying his administration did not enforce the ordinances passed in the wake of Tyre Nichols' death after he was beaten by officers with MPD. After taking office, Memphis Mayor Paul Young said he would be enforcing those ordinances.

Those ordinances included requirements to make a public-facing traffic stop dashboard, prohibiting traffic stops for minor offenses that are often categorized as pretextual stops and prohibiting police in unmarked vehicles from pulling over motorists.

Davis also pushed back on councilmembers asking why the ordinances were not enforced, saying that she was enforcing them as internal department policies. The Commercial Appeal has asked for copies of those policy changes, which do not appear to be in the online version of MPD's policy handbook, through a public records request. That request has not been fulfilled as of Tuesday.

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In that committee vote, which was nonbinding, seven councilmembers voted to give a negative recommendation for Davis' reappointment as police chief. Six voted for a favorable recommendation.

Those who voted against a favorable recommendation in that Jan. 9 committee meeting were councilmembers JB Smiley Jr., J. Ford Canale, Jana Swearengen-Washington, Chase Carlisle, Jerri Green, Philip Spinosa and Jeff Warren. Voting for a favorable recommendation were councilwomen Pearl Eva Walker, Rhonda Logan, Edmund Ford Sr, Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, Michalyn Easter-Thomas and Janika White.

Ahead of the committee vote, a large contingent of MPD brass gathered in apparent support of Davis. Some Memphians carried signs that expressed support for Davis, and the Memphis branch of the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights group, issued a press release supporting her.

Prior to the vote Tuesday, Davis appeared to have additional support from community members, including State Sen. Raumesh Akbari, and from the Memphis branch of the sorority both Akbari and Davis are part of — Delta Sigma Theta. A small Facebook group also was started calling for Davis' reappointment.

Activists that gathered Jan. 9 generally opposed Davis' reappointment, pointing to the lack of enforcement of the reform ordinances. Most activists who spoke said they had witnessed unmarked police cars conducting traffic stops and heard about pretextual traffic stops still happening.

Smiley also pointed to a pretextual traffic stop that resulted in a man being arrested and taken to 201 Poplar. That man was Nichols' brother, and his parents said the arrest stemmed from a California warrant that had been handled in 2016. Nichols' brother was pulled over, Smiley said, "simply because his tags were in the wrong place," and happened days before the anniversary of Nichols' beating.

The charges against Nichols' brother were ultimately dropped.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis will serve as interim chief