Tag: Memphis Police Department

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City Of Memphis Issues Demonstration Permit to KKK

Photo from a KKK rally last year in Charlotte, North Carolina

  • Photo from a KKK rally last year in Charlotte, North Carolina

The city of Memphis has officially approved a demonstration by the Loyal White Knights, better known as the Ku Klux Klan, to be held on March 30th.

City officials and police director Toney Armstrong have been discussing the issue for days, and the permit was finally approved after Armstrong gave the okay to proceed.

“Based on director Armstrong’s decision, the permits office took appropriate steps earlier today to issue the permit and contact the applicant,” said city attorney Herman Morris. “We have known from the beginning that denying this application would result in a legal fight on constitutionality that would be long, divisive, expensive, and that would unnecessarily prolong the decision. We have all, however, been very attune to director Armstrong’s review given the critical role the Memphis Police Department will play in a proposed demonstration.”

The KKK submitted their application to demonstrate following the Memphis City Council’s decision to change the name of Forrest Park and other city parks named with Confederate themes.

“My primary focus is the safety of the public and all involved,” Armstrong said. “It will be in all of our best interest to have a demonstration where we are able to work with this group in setting the do’s and don’ts. Right now, my team has a strategy that will ensure everyone’s safety. What we absolutely do not want is some unplanned, spontaneous demonstration where my team has not been involved in planning and set-up.”

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Memphis Police DUI Officer Delivers Baby, Saves Its Life

Anthony Morris

  • Anthony Morris

Memphis Police DUI Officer Anthony Morris is used to saving lives by getting drunk drivers off city streets. But early Friday morning, he saved a life in a much more direct way.

Morris was on patrol around 2 a.m. near American Way and Cherry when he noticed that a woman standing at the driver’s side rear door of a Dodge Charger was flagging him down. As he approached the Charger, he noticed another woman lying in the backseat. That woman was having contractions and going into labor.

Morris called the police communications dispatch and began assisting the pregnant woman with delivery. But as the child emerged, Morris noticed it wasn’t breathing because the umbilical cord was wrapped around its neck. The MPD dispatch and Memphis Fire Department dispatch personnel gave Morris instructions for safely unwrapping the cord and helping the child breathe.

Fire department officials arrived on the scene shortly after and transported the mom and child to Methodist Germantown. The MPD reports that the mother and child are doing just fine.

Morris, who has been with the MPD since 1994, will be nominated for the MPD’s Lifesaving Award.

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Memphis Police Department Receives Criticism and Praise From Citizens

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Representatives from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) hosted a public meeting at the Memphis Police Department’s (MPD) Crump Station Monday evening to gather comments and concerns as it considers whether or not to reaccredit the department. MPD is seeking reaccreditation for another three years. It was last accredited in 2010.

Outside the station, a small group of protesters from the Memphis Black Autonomy Federation held signs protesting recent MPD-involved shooting deaths, such as the deaths of 24-year-old Steven Askew and 67-year-old Donald Moore, both killed this year by officers who claimed guns were pointed at them by the victims.

The federation submitted its public comment in the form of an eight-page emailed letter that includes a section titled “Body Count,” which details 13 deaths that occurred either through shootings by officers or while suspects were being held in police care. They are asking CALEA to deny MPD’s reaccreditation citing “several incidents of deadly force against people of color, unprofessional conduct, and corruption within the Memphis Police Department,” according to a press release from the group.

Since those comments were submitted before the meeting, federation members did not speak at the public forum. They did offer comments to media outside the station.

“We’re just asking for democracy and fairness,” said Rochelle Carraway, addressing the issue of whether or not the MPD should receive reaccreditation. “If you don’t have to kill, don’t. It’s gotten out of hand.”

Lorenzo Ervin agreed: “We just want [CALEA] to be as thorough as possible. We don’t want the [the MPD] to be legitimized by them.”

Inside the meeting, some public comments echoed those of the protesters outside. Robert Gurley said he’d like to see a little more professionalism within the department, and Kenneth Van Buren, who often organizes direct actions against what he sees as injustices in city government, said he has asked the Justice Department to send a task force to Memphis to investigate the MPD.

“I’ve tried to talk to the [police] director, and my calls have gone unanswered,” Van Buren said. He said he’s unhappy about recent shootings. He also believes the MPD is guilty of evidence tampering, and he wants all officers to have to submit to regular random drug screenings.

But the majority of comments made inside the meeting were overwhelmingly positive. Dwight Montgomery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, did mention that “on one end of the scale, you have a small group of police officers who have acted inappropriately,” referring to officers involved in recent shooting deaths. But he praised the department as a whole for dealing with what he called “major crime problems happening every weekend in certain neighborhoods.”

Memphian Christopher Edwards agreed: “The police officers who serve us have taken on the responsibility of a job that very few men and women would agree to take. We need to be objective when looking at them.”

“I am most grateful and thankful that these people come to work everyday,” said commenter Jennifer Bush. “There have been isolated incidents and tragedies, but these could have happened in many other places.”

Public comments are still being accepted by email, phone, and snail mail. Direct comments to CALEA at calea@calea.org, call (703) 352-4225, or mail a letter to the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, 13575 Healthcote Blvd., Suite 320, Gainesville, VA 20155.

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MPD Veteran Shares Thoughts on Negative Perception of City Officers

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Over the last few months, several Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers have made headlines. It began with the murder of Officer Martoiya Lang, who was fatally shot on Dec. 14th, 2012 as she served a drug-related warrant at a house in East Memphis.

“[Officers] never discuss being harmed, but we try to be as careful as possible,” said 13-year MPD veteran Gloria Suggs. “It’s something that we keep in the back of our mind. You don’t want to think about not going home to your family. You just want to keep it positive and believe that everything is going to be okay.”

Nearly two weeks after Lang’s death, on December 27th, MPD officers fatally shot Charles Livingston, an armed robbery suspect, after he fled through the woods from a McDonalds on Frayser Boulevard. Officers said he pointed a gun at them, which led them to discharge their weapons.

On January 11th, an MPD officer fatally shot Donald Moore, an animal hoarder, at his Cordova home. The officer shot Moore after he pointed a gun at him and several Memphis Animal Services employees, who were there to serve an animal cruelty warrant.

A week later, on January 17th, officers shot and killed Steven Askew as he sat in his car in the parking lot of the Windsor Place Apartments at Knight Arnold and Mendenhall. The officers shot Askew after he allegedly pointed his handgun, which he was registered to own, at them. One of the officers involved with Askew’s shooting, Ned Aufdenkamp, has received several complaints throughout his tenure as a police officer and was submitted for the department’s Early Intervention Program in 2012.

On January 23rd, one week after Askew’s death, a MPD officer shot 18-year-old Bo Moore in the parking lot of the Quick & Easy convenience store on 931 S. Highland after he pointed a gun at the officer.

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Additionally, the media has focused in on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s (TBI) investigation into why MPD officer Terrance Shaw shot and killed 15-year-old Justin Thompson in September 2012. Shaw was off duty at the time of the shooting. The TBI investigated whether or not Shaw was trying to prevent a robbery during the shooting and if he had prior history with the victim. Shaw was cleared of facing criminal charges for the shooting on February 1st.

“There is insufficient evidence to create a reasonable chance for a conviction against Mr. Shaw, particularly when considered with the foreseeable defense that could be raised under the evidence,” District Attorney Amy Weirich said in a statement.

Prior to the death of Thompson, Shaw was involved in three shootings, which were all considered justifiable. On Valentine’s Day of 2009, Shaw shot and killed 25-year-old Courtney McGowan after he put his car in reverse and nearly ran Shaw and his partner over, according to the incident report. In November 2008 and June 2011, Shaw shot two different dogs that charged at him.

In a time where MPD officers are receiving more negative attention than positive, Suggs still wears her badge with pride. She said it’s not fair for all MPD officers to be viewed negatively when there’s only a handful who are going against what the department represents.

“We’re like miniature celebrities, because if anything goes on with this family, every news channel and newspaper wants to capture it,” Suggs said. “People forget that we are human. We are mothers. We are fathers. We are grandfathers, grandmothers, husbands and wives. We’re someone’s sister. We’re someone’s brother, and we have family at home that want to love us just as if we didn’t have blue on. Sometimes people forget that we do have love in our hearts, and if we didn’t, we wouldn’t risk our lives to help out the community.”

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Memphis City Council Discusses Funding for Blue Crush

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The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission recently sent a letter to City Hall asking Mayor A C Wharton’s administration to restore funding to the Memphis Police Department’s Blue Crush data-driven policing program. But a handful of Memphis City Council members say they were never made aware of any cuts to the MPD’s budget for Blue Crush.

This morning, the Memphis City Council called on MPD director Toney Armstrong to explain the current state of Blue Crush and whether or not funding cuts had affected use of the successful crime-fighting program.

Armstrong said Blue Crush has remained strong, despite previous comments Armstrong made to media outlets over the past few days. But Armstrong did admit that Blue Crush wasn’t being funded with traditional methods.

Armstrong said budget cuts have forced him trade comp time in lieu of payments for officers who work on Blue Crush details. The funds that could have been used to pay for Blue Crush had to be spent on necessary upgrades to equipment and fingerprinting technology and mandatory hepatitis shots for employees, Armstrong said.

“Yes, I have the funds in my budget [for Blue Crush] but there were other unfunded obligations we had to meet,” Armstrong told the council.

Memphis City Councilman Jim Strickland blamed the Wharton administration for denying the MPD a $2.3 million request for overtime pay for Blue Crush detail.

The police division had requested $245 million for its overall budget, which would have included the money for Blue Crush overtime pay. But the department was given $238 million instead. Strickland accused Wharton of “dismantling” Blue Crush, citing a document from the city’s Zero Based Budgeting Committee that specifically says $2.3 million was cut from “overtime for Blue Crush” for the 2013 budget. Also, a December 2012 email from MPD deputy police chief Jim Harvey specifically stated that the “Blue Crush overtime budget was cut from all precincts.”

Strickland’s data also clearly showed a reduction in Blue Crush details from 2010 to 2012. There were 824 details from July to December 2010, 257 details from the same months in 2011, and 336 details from July to December 2012.

But city CAO George Little, representing the Wharton administration, argued that Blue Crush is not a line item, implying that Armstrong makes the decisions on how to use his budget to fund that program. The council has requested more information from Armstrong, and they will discuss the matter again in a few weeks.

Blue Crush was launched in 2006 by former MPD director Larry Godwin. It utilizes crime data to determine hotspots where police are deployed.

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Teen Shooting Victim Knew His Killer

The teenager shot last Friday after a Central High School basketball game likely knew his shooter, said Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong during a press conference at the Memphis City Schools Board of Education on Tuesday afternoon.

The victim, 17-year-old Terrance Wilkins, was a student at Booker T. Washington High School. Wilkins was taken off of life support on Sunday.

His murder remains unsolved, and Armstrong urged anyone with information to contact 528-CASH.

Armstrong said the shooting stemmed from an altercation that occurred after the basketball game, off of school property on Bellevue and Linden. He said the suspect is an African American male between the ages of 17 and 19.

The meeting, which also involved Memphis City Schools’ officials, focused on the current protocols in place between MPD and MCS security.

“I want to use this time for us to review our policies and discuss whether or not there is a need for adjusting them. While I know and understand that the safety of school events is something they adopt as the responsibility of the school system’s security team, the city’s overall safety falls squarely in my domain,” said Armstrong in a statement released subsequent to the shooting.

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Q&A with Police Director Toney Armstrong

Here’s the long version of a Q&A with new Memphis Police director Toney Armstrong that ran in this week’s Memphis Flyer.

He may be best known for extracting a confession from convicted murderer Jessie Dotson in 2008’s Lester Street murder case on A&E’s The First 48. But new Memphis Police director Toney Armstrong has accomplished plenty more outside the reality show’s spotlight.

Toney Armstrong

  • Toney Armstrong

The Memphis native began his career in the U.S. Army, but he joined the Memphis Police Department (MPD) in 1989 a few years after his honorable discharge. Armstrong made his way through the ranks working undercover and leading in the robbery bureau, the organized crime unit, uniform patrol, missing persons, CrimeStoppers, and the homicide unit. On April 15th, Armstrong was sworn in to lead the department following former director Larry Godwin’s retirement.

The child of a single mother from inner city Memphis, Armstrong says he’ll make community policing his number one focus, allowing technology-driven policing to take on a supporting, rather than starring, role. — Bianca Phillips


You’ve stated that you’re a proponent of community policing, but how is that different from the way the MPD currently operates?
Right now, a lot of what the department does is technology-based. We rely on technology to tell us where to deploy personnel and to tell us what kind of crimes are going on in certain areas. But it’s my position that technology is a tool, and it shouldn’t be the be-all, end-all. There should be some human interaction.
I don’t feel that it puts us in the best light with communities that every time they see us in their community, we’re affecting an arrest.

Does this mean you’ll bring back the inactive COACT community policing units?
I’m in the process now of revamping the COACT units. We’ll probably rework them with a different mission. We do have COACT units, but honestly speaking, they have not been used in a capacity of being community-oriented.

What are some of your other top priorities?
The list is quite long, and I’ve only been here for a week. So obviously, I’ll be evaluating a lot of units and personnel. But as time goes on and those evaluations are complete, I’ll make changes as I see fit.

Will there be big changes?
I’ll be tweaking things in some areas and making big changes in others, but I can’t be specific right now. I can’t sit here and say we’re going to continue in the direction we’re going. I’m a different director than Director Godwin was, so the focus will always be to provide citizens with the best service we can. But how we do that is different from director to director. My focus will be on community policing.
There are some things that we’ve done that Director Godwin initiated that will continue, but I’m not fixing to sit here and say, this unit will be turned upside down and we’re turning the department upside down in reference to personnel. But I will honestly tell you there are some units that I’m looking at and some things that we do that I’m looking at changing.

You’re inheriting a department that’s managed to lower crime significantly. Does that give you more room to tweak and perfect the department’s structure?
The numbers say the crime rate is down, but we have to work on the perception. If you go into some neighborhoods, they’ll tell us we’re not realizing the reduction that we say. They don’t feel their relationship with the police department is that great. We’ve been successful in some areas and in others, we need to do a better job.

Godwin said one of his biggest regrets was not securing a separate police headquarters for the MPD. Will you try to accomplish that?
Right now, I don’t want to say it’s not a priority. Right now, my biggest priority is to maintain the officers that we have. It’s no secret that these are tough economic times. It’s no secret that we’re being asked to make cuts to our budgets. It’s so secret that over 90 percent of our budget is personnel. When you ask us to make cuts, that’s where those cuts come from.
My biggest challenge right now is to make sure we don’t lose any officers to those budget cuts, as well as losing key personnel. We have quite a bit of a support staff. A police headquarters would be great, but I can’t honestly say that I could envision the city earmarking millions of dollars for us to move in that direction when we’re talking about laying personnel off.

What are you most excited about?
I’m most excited about just getting out and meeting people, continuing in the path, and the momentum we’ve had as far as the reduction in crime. But I’m excited for these officers. For the most part, you’ve got a young guy like myself who comes in, and you have officers out there who can see that anything is possible. I’m excited for the community.
I come from a single parent home. My mother raised me in the inner city, and I’m excited to be a source of inspiration for those mothers out there who are having some of the same struggles that my mother had. They can see that there can be positive results if they do what they need to do, even though it’s a challenge everyday. But if you show that child the love they need and the discipline they need, there can be positive results.

What are you least excited about?
Budget cuts are challenging. If you talk to division directors all over the city, it’s tough when you have to make choices as far as people’s careers. I’m least excited about trying to get a budget in place during these tough economic times.

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Memphis Police Accidentally Arrest An Officer

Edrick Braxton

  • Edrick Braxton

File this one under “Oops!” On Tuesday, Memphis Police officers accidentally arrested one of their own. Officer Edrick Braxton was mistakenly arrested on a warrant for aggravated burglary when his fingerprints were lifted from the scene of a crime.

But turns out Braxton’s prints were there because he made the scene when Antavious Christopher called police on March 17th regarding a burglary on Mickey Drive. Christopher had seen someone inside his neighbor’s home and called for help. Braxton made the scene and arrested two suspects.

But other officers dusting for prints lifted Braxton’s from a lawn mower, and an arrest warrant was issued. Braxton was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated burglary. He was later released and the warrant was recalled. A spokesperson for the MPD said Braxton’s prints were on the lawn mower because he touched the item while working the crime scene.

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Out with Godwin, In with Armstrong

Toney Armstrong

  • Toney Armstrong

New Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong was sworn in this morning in a ceremony in the Memphis City Council Chambers at City Hall.

Armstrong, a 22-year-veteran of the MPD, promised to focus on strengthening the relationship between police officers and community members, while continuing the technology-driven policing methods instituted by outgoing director Larry Godwin.

“Toney doesn’t have to deal with what I had to deal with. We weren’t just dealing with crime going up. We had all these other issues to deal with. We had personnel issues. We had folks over here that were civilians and making as much [money] as the chief. We had folks that we didn’t even know what they did. We had promotional issues,” Godwin told the Flyer in an exit interview last month. “He doesn’t have any of that. He has a crime plan that’s the best in the country. All he has to do is keep doing what he’s doing.”

Armstrong joined the MPD in 1989, after serving three years as an Army Field Artillery Specialist. He was first assigned to the West Precinct (now known as Union Station), and in 1991, he began working undercover. Later, Armstrong was moved into the role of investigator in the Organized Crime Unit and then as a sergeant in the robbery bureau.

He’s perhaps best known for his role as supervisor of the homicide unit on A&E’s The First 48. In that role, Armstrong worked on the infamous Lester Street Murder case and eventually led the unit to an 87 percent solve rate, the highest its ever seen. In 2008, Armstrong was promoted to the rank of commander of the homicide unit. From there, he went on to the role of colonel of downtown’s uniform patrol, deputy chief of uniform patrol, and deputy director. He was named to the top cop role in March, shortly after Godwin announced his retirement.

“I think [Toney’s] positioned to sort of go the next step,” said Dr. Richard Janikowski, associate professor in the University of Memphis Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. “The [former] sheriff, Mark [Luttrell], once said, when the house is on fire, that’s what you’ve got to concentrate on, putting the fire out. Then you can start looking at the electrical wiring.”

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Memphis Police “Crime of the Week”

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Every week, the Memphis Police Department alerts the media of a major unsolved crime that requires assistance from the public to solve. People are urged to call Crime Stoppers at 528-CASH, submit an online tip here, or text tips by sending “AWARD” to 274637. If the tip leads to an arrest, the tipster may be eligible to receive up to $1,000.

The Memphis Police are seeking a suspect in the murder of 60-year-old Adam Clayton. Clayton’s body was discovered around 8:20 p.m. on Saturday, March 5th wrapped in a blanket near the area of Plant and Boxtown Roads near T.O. Fuller State Park. Clayton had a wound on his head. Police were alerted to come to the area through a 911 call. The MPD’s Homicide Unit is seeking tips on a possible suspect.