The City of Memphis and its police officers regularly violate the constitutional rights of residents, including using excessive force, discriminating against Black people and mistreating people with behavioral health disabilities, according to a new Justice Department report.
Released Wednesday, the report is the culmination of a civil rights investigation into the Memphis Police Department launched by the Justice Department after the violent beating of Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop in January 2023 leading to his death.
The Justice Department said in its report:
Our investigation found that officers use force to punish and retaliate against people who do not immediately do as they say. They rapidly escalate encounters, including traffic stops, and use excessive force even when people are already handcuffed or restrained. They resort to intimidation and threats. They have put themselves and others in harm’s way—officers have unlawfully fired at moving cars and accidentally pepper sprayed and fired Tasers at each other.
Nichols’ death is referenced near the top of the report. Body camera footage of the incident sparked national outrage. Video showed Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man and the father of a toddler, dragged out of a car by five police officers, who beat, shocked and pepper-sprayed him as he cried out for help. He died in a hospital three days later.
Three of the five former police officers involved in Nichols’ death were convicted by a jury of federal civil rights violations in October this year. Two others pleaded guilty to federal charges months earlier. All five are Black.
In a letter published earlier Wednesday, city officials appeared to get ahead of the Justice Department report, saying that it would not agree to negotiate federal oversight of the MPD until it could review and challenge the agency’s findings.








