This story was updated on May 27, 2025, with the correct spelling of Tyré Nichols name.
People with connections to the Memphis Police Department, clergy members, law professors, a mental health expert and a local organizer have been selected by the city of Memphis to join a new police reform task force that was announced after the city declined to enter a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The task force’s recommendations will have to be implemented voluntarily by the city in the absence of DOJ action, Memphis Mayor Paul Young said, stressing his commitment to making those reforms in an interview with MLK50: Justice Through Journalism.
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“I wouldn’t bring forth this proposal unless I had a deep desire to see it through,” Young said. “There could be political ramifications for bringing forth something and not following through with it. And so I’m willing to put my reputation on the line because I deeply believe that this is important work for our city.”
The task force, led by retired federal judge Bernice Donald, will review the DOJ’s recommendations and develop a reform plan. The nine members of the task force are:
- Toney Armstrong, former director of the Memphis Police Department who now oversees security operations at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
- Dr. Audrey Townsel, a mental health expert who served as director of mental health services for Shelby County jails and is the founder of Calyx Psychological Services.
- Daniel Kiel, a constitutional law professor at the University of Memphis
- Lucian Dervan, professor of law and director of criminal justice at Belmont University
- The Rev. Keith Norman, pastor of First Baptist Church Broad Avenue, also vice president of government affairs for Baptist Memorial Health Care
- The Rev. Rosalyn Nichols, organizing pastor of Freedom’s Chapel Christian Church and organizer of the nonprofit A More Excellent Way
- Zayid Saleem, Shelby County judicial commissioner and former legal adviser to MPD
- Amber Sherman, a West Tennessee organizer and policy analyst
- Austin Wyatt Sr., a cross-disciplinary scholar specializing in criminal justice injustices who works for Shelby County Government and is completing a PhD in urban affairs from the University of Memphis
Although the plan hasn’t been finalized, some Memphians have expressed concerns that the city won’t implement the task force’s recommendations without external oversight. “We can think of no instance when a just society allowed the abuser of others to determine how they would fix their behavior,” stated a petition that garnered more than 500 signatures urging the mayor to sign a consent decree with the DOJ.
With changes to the DOJ under a new presidential administration making federal oversight uncertain, some of those advocates are now asking how the task force will be held accountable to the public.
Tikeila Rucker, political director at Memphis for All and one of those who signed the petition, said she worries that the task force could be ineffective, pointing to the Reimagining Policing task force created by former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland following the 2020 death of George Floyd.
“We don’t have the … external accountability for the reforms needed from the DOJ, but we also don’t know what that would look like under this new (presidential) administration,” Rucker said. “It just puts us in an interesting position, but I’m very hopeful around what could come out of this if Mayor Young is intentional about building relationships with people who have boots on the ground and willing to bridge any of those disconnects.”
In an interview with MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, Donald emphasized her independence, saying the DOJ report “will be the baseline for and the springboard for this intense initiative,” not directives from the mayor.
She said she would invite continued involvement of the DOJ, also pointing out that they still retain the power to file a lawsuit if they are unhappy with MPD’s progress.
A lawsuit may be unlikely: Under Donald Trump’s administration, civil rights litigation has been halted and officials have indicated that leadership may want to reconsider recent agreements such as consent decrees, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
“It will be the community, through the task force, working hand in hand to shape whatever comes out and whatever policies ultimately come through,” Donald said.
The task force’s oversight work
Retired judge Bernice Donald told MLK50 that work reforming MPD will include:
- Her meeting with the city over the next 30-45 days
- Hiring a subject matter expert within 60 days
- Conducting a community survey
- Providing community education in all police precincts, including on individuals’ “rights, but also their corresponding responsibilities.”
- Developing a dashboard to receive community input
- Reviewing the DOJ’s recommendations
- Requesting an audit of police practices within the next six months
Sherman, the organizer named to the task force, said its members want to implement the DOJ’s recommendations and require MPD to provide data on traffic and pedestrian stops called for by city ordinances.
Sherman and others have asked Young to include a clause in Donald’s contract that only a federal judge can remove or replace her, taking the decision out of the city’s hands.
A city official told MLK50 that the contract with Donald was still in progress.
Donald “is a very strong-minded person,” and both she and the task force “will work in the best interest of our citizens first,” said Norman, one of the pastors on the task force.
The first meeting of the task force is scheduled for later this month. While that introductory meeting will likely be closed to the public, Donald said she anticipates future meetings being open to community members and that transparency is important for the work.
That work is slated to span two years with an analysis of “what else needs to be done” at the end of that time frame, she said.
Donald said she plans to first familiarize herself with MPD’s policies, including the changes Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis has made in the two years since Tyré Nichols died following a brutal beating by officers in MPD’s now-deactivated Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods unit.
In its report, the DOJ found that MPD uses excessive force, conducts unlawful stops, searches and arrests and unlawfully discriminates against Black people and those with behavioral health disabilities.
Donald said she anticipates “fairly significant attention to the training curriculum that the police go through,” Donald said.
The DOJ report also detailed examples of situations where officers have violated the U.S. Constitution, state law and MPD’s own policies, often with few to no consequences.
When asked how Donald and the task force will ensure change beyond altering policies, Donald said she believes MPD “will have a policy of holding people accountable for their conduct. No policy is any good if people have the freedom to comply or not to comply, but there is a chain of command, and there will be accountability.”
Katherine Burgess is the government accountability reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Contact her at katherine.burgess@mlk50.com
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