This story was updated on May 27, 2025, with the correct spelling of Tyré Nichols name.
When the Memphis City Council agreed to Mayor Paul Young’s request that Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis serve in an interim capacity, questions arose regarding what she would need to do to win back her full title and just how much time the council will allow her to do that work.
In the Jan. 23 meeting, those questions weren’t answered. Since then, several council members have indicated to MLK50: Justice Through Journalism that any specific details spelling out what the council wants to see from Davis are likely to be developed in meetings that could include community activists, the police union, the council and the mayor’s office.
In interviews, council members have shared some ideas. So far, suggestions have been broad, ranging from discussions of homicide rates to community relations. Council members have also not identified a time frame in which they will bring back Davis’ reappointment.
But some members are already researching. Councilwoman Jerri Green said the Council needs “to be transparent in our process so that (Davis) knows what we’re looking for.”
“We want to see crime go down, we want to see our solve rates go up, we want to see Memphians feel safer,” Green said. “Hopefully, we can have something in writing so that we’re all on the same page about what we’re looking for.”
While that consensus is important, experts say, metrics must also be realistic and clear. Choosing the right goals could answer another question: How should you measure the effectiveness of a police chief?
Not homicides but clearance rates
The move to interim came after a nonbinding vote two weeks prior indicated Davis did not have the support needed for reappointment.
It will take seven council members to “un-table” Davis’ reappointment — the same number of council members who voted against her reappointment in committee. But before that occurs, council members say they want to set metrics and parameters by which to judge Davis’ effectiveness as chief.
Councilman Jeff Warren, a Davis critic, told MLK50 that metrics are likely to include the homicide rate, number of arrests, cases closed and the success of specialized units like the Organized Crime Unit. The U.S. Department of Justice issued new guidelines for specialized units after the death of Tyré Nichols, who was brutally beaten by Memphis police officers in the now-disbanded Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods Unit.
In 2023, there were 399 homicides in Memphis, 342 of which the Memphis Police Department classified as murders. Those deaths set a new record for the city.
But while homicides, especially gun violence, are a focus of most leaders and Memphians, making that a metric for Davis may not make sense. Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, says judging a police chief on homicides can be tricky since “one thing we know of just years and years of crime data is that police don’t prevent crimes from happening.”
However, she said, homicide clearance rates, “how well these crimes are being investigated,” and “arrests” are “something that chiefs typically have more control over.”
Clearance rates, which measure the ratio of crimes reported to arrests made, have consistently been low in Memphis, according to data collected by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Other things that should be measured include the number of police contacts and the “quality of those police contacts,” such as whether police primarily stop people for low-level offenses or for violent crimes, said Bonds.
LJ Abraham, a Memphis activist who attended the release of DeCarcerate Memphis’ newest “Driving while BIPOC” report, said council members should look at Davis’ record since she took the job.
Monday, DeCarcerate Memphis released data showing continued racial disparities in Memphis traffic stops and that MPD actually increased its use of pretextual traffic stops following the Memphis City Council’s passage of an ordinance directing them not to use such stops.
If Davis has not been following reform ordinances passed by the council, “then that alone should be enough to stop her from moving forward as our police chief,” Abraham said.
“I think it would be a realistic expectation for the City Council to consider other people for the role,” Abraham said. “I don’t think that she’s fit to be our police chief. I don’t think she understands the inner workings of our city.”
Councilwoman Pearl Walker, who voted in committee to retain Davis, said she wants to see continued work on a goal to make 30% of the force female by 2030 (part of a national initiative), continued work on the traffic citation dashboard and progress on a forensic crime lab in Memphis, an effort that will need Davis’ support but also significant funding approved by the City Council.
Since Young has taken office, MPD has launched a dashboard on traffic stop data as well as a repeat offender dashboard. The traffic dashboard was required by a police reform ordinance passed by the City Council in the wake of Nichols’ death, but so far does not include all the required categories. Members of DeCarcerate Memphis have also told the media that the figures in the dashboard do not align with data provided to the organization via public record request.
MPD told MLK50 that the dashboard is “in the final stages of being completed” and that “Once finished, we will advise what fields can be searched and what features are available.” There is currently no estimated time for when the dashboard will be complete, MPD said.
Davis has told members of the media that the department is conforming to “certain deliverables as it relates to policies and training … (that) the DOJ is guiding us to do” in the investigation in the wake of Nichols’ death.
MPD did not respond to a request from MLK50 to provide details or examples of those changes.
Relationships matter
In her research, Green, who opposed Davis’ reappointment in committee, has considered crime-fighting efforts in numerous other cities. The five largest cities in the United States — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix — all saw homicides fall by more than 10% in 2023, according to data from the FBI reported by CNN.
And Detroit ended 2023 with the fewest homicides in 57 years, along with double-digit drops in shootings and carjackings. The city attributed that drop in crime to partnerships between federal, state, county, city, judicial and community partners, including increased officers on the street, a reduced backlog of felony gun cases and proactive policing that included weapons detection technology and focusing on drag racing events.
“There’s a lot of great ideas that I think can be pulled to be useful here in Memphis from all of those places,” Green said.
Other important factors include the chief’s relationship with her officers and with the mayor, her boss, said Niles Wilson, senior director of Law Enforcement Initiatives at the Center for Policing Equity.
A police chief must find “a balance” between backing their employees and also holding them accountable, Wilson said. It could be important for Davis to focus on “internal accountability mechanisms for officers who engage in misconduct,” Bonds said.
“To improve those relationships, I think it’s all about transparency. You have to have conversations with your officers. You have to share the vision, explain the vision, actually be out there in the trenches with them,” Wilson said.
Council members and others say Davis’ connections with the rank-and-file officers have been difficult. In a January meeting, Davis herself alluded to that, saying her officers “(are) not used to discipline at a level our community and our council expects. … They’re not used to various policies and procedures that take our department to a higher level. Change is uncomfortable for them, and it’s easy for them to say what they don’t like, but I know what is needed in a police department.”
As for the mayor, that relationship is “very, very important,” Wilson said.
“When the mayor says I want the chief to do their job, do it properly … then that chief can do some things that maybe the chief couldn’t do before,” Wilson said. “I think Chief Davis is a wonderful chief. I really do. I just think there’s times the chief’s hands are tied based on factors outside the chief’s control.”
Wilson said most police chiefs are judged by whether people are and feel safe, “But in the current climate, they’re also judged by any incidents that may have been going on or may have happened.”
Council members have indicated that they also want Davis to cultivate a different image.
“I would like for her to do some things in terms of her personal PR and branding with the community,” Walker said.
Concern about the timeframe
Regardless of what metrics the council sets, Davis may have limited time to accomplish them.
While there is no set date to bring back Davis’ appointment, a resolution suggested by Warren and ultimately not voted on would have made her interim for five months.
“Five to six months is a difficult amount of time to be able to really judge metrics one way or another, particularly in a city like Memphis that had a horrific, high-profile police killing,” said Bonds, referring to the January 2023 death of Nichols. “Repercussions of any policy changes and shifts in departmental priorities are still in the works a lot of times after high-profile incidents like that. Also, there’s a pending Department of Justice Investigation, so that also makes it difficult to, for lack of a better word, to have a sample period.”
Council Chairman JB Smiley Jr. said he is concerned about the time frame for setting metrics prior to the council making its final decision on Davis.
The council will need to see a data-driven crime reduction plan, Smiley said, and also increased support for Davis from rank-and-file officers.
Davis has already had more than two years to make a difference, Smiley said, but if the mayor “wants some more time, we’ll give him some more time.”
Then, if it’s not working, Smiley said he hopes the mayor and council would work together to find a new chief, preferably from within MPD.
“It’s a big decision, and there’s no way this council or our mayor can be successful if our police chief cannot be successful,” Smiley said.
Warren said he hopes metrics will be established in the next 30-45 days, developed by the council in conjunction with the police department, the administration, the police union and others.
“I think what we’re trying to do is initiate a process that allows the police department and the council and the administration and the citizens to see that we’re making progress here, and it’s going in the right direction,” Warren said.
Katherine Burgess is the government accountability reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Contact her at katherine.burgess@mlk50.com
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