Saying it was just a “starting point,” County Commissioner Mike Carpenter officially presented his consolidation proposal to the law enforcement consolidation task force on Wednesday.
“I don’t think this is an air-tight proposal. … This is open to discussion,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter’s plan suggests creating a Public Safety Commission that would guide a five-year consolidation process of the Memphis Police Department and the law enforcement duties of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. If, during that time, consolidation was not working or was costing too much money, the bodies involved could opt not to go forward.
But some task force members said they needed more time to come up with a viable proposal.
“If it takes five years to execute [the plan], we need to take longer than 90 days to choose that path,” said Mike Heidingsfield, head of the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission.
The task force’s next meeting is November 28th.