Court Orders Memphis to Publish Cop Candidate List

Chancery Court judge Walter Evans ruled in favor of The Commercial Appeal's lawsuit against the city of Memphis and the International Association of Chiefs of Police seeking disclosure of everyone who had applied for the city's police chief job.  Click to see story in Daily News.

Scroll down to see our story on one Memphis chief candidate, Philadelphia Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan, who was in charge of Philly streets during the just-completed Democratic National Convention, and down one more to see our analysis, "Was City's Cop Search Doomed from the Start?"

This Top Cop Candidate Is in the National Spotlight for Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia

"They disrupt traffic, but so what?  The First Amendment is more important than traffic."  

Memphis police chief candidate and Philadelphia PD Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan will be the cop most on the spot in America next week as Philly PD’s point man for the Democratic National Convention.

Of the five out-of-towners who were turned up by a national search, Sullivan will be in the national spotlight like no other as it will be his task to keep peace on the streets outside the Wells Fargo Center. 

Sullivan has somewhat of a reputation for peaceful protests, and he says that during protest rallies, he is on the front lines with his men; that he does not want them to don tactical attire, and that “a verbal insult has never hurt me once in all my years.  People can scream and curse me all they want, and I’m not going to react.”

Was Memphis' Cop Search Process Doomed from the Start?

Was the city’s search for a new chief of police a political exercise in futility that cost taxpayers $40,000 -- or more?   

When Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland this spring asked his interim appointee, Michael Rallings, to apply for the permanent post of director of police services, it signaled to some potential national candidates that the mayor's mind was made up.  Moreover, why did Strickland or the search entity not even talk with arguably some of the top police administrators in the country -- even one who was a former Memphis police officer?

Now that city council has formally asked Strickland to appoint Railings -- as has the NAACP, the police union and even protestors against police violence -- is Strickland wasting taxpayer money and the time of other law enforcement candidates to continue the charade of a "national search?"  Strickland announced that he will be interviewing five out-of-town candidates in August, and the mayor even posted their bios online.  What the mayor failed to say was how much that will cost the city in travel and related expenses.   

At this point Strickland would seem to have no choice, this side of a political death wish, but to appoint Rallings.  That's not to slight Rallings, who may be the best pick.   

Memphis native Anne Kirkpatrick recently was named to head the city of Chicago’s new Bureau of Professional Standards with the huge task of reforming police culture into a force of “guardians, not warriors,”  as reported by The Chicago Sun-Times.  Kirkpatrick was a Memphis patrol officer in the 1980s; moved to Washington state where she got a law degree, and then climbed a law enforcement ladder that included serving as a police chief and as a trainer of police brass for the FBI.  

Freedom for Whom to do What? Is Valid Question on Fourth of July

Three Comforting Myths from the Declaration of Independence

By Ibram X. Kendi  truthout/op-ed

"We, the people" seem to enjoy sleeping on our comfortable bed of myths about the United States' "founding fathers," documents and creeds. Every 4th of July, we seem to remake this bed of mythology.

It is a bed that comforts our belief in American exceptionalism. It is bed that comforts our belief that the United States is the leader of the free world. It is a bed that comforts our belief that US ideals are inherently good. It is a bed that comforts our belief that the founders of the United States were great men who did great things for us, like creating this great country.

"We, the people" seem to avoid the hard floor of truth. And too often, our historians and memories are hindered by duty, blinded by patriotism and restrained by ideology in splashing water on us, in soiling our bed of mythology, in forcing us to wake up to the complex and sometimes awful truth of the American foundation.

Click to link to full story.

City Council Threatens to Pull the 'Tooth' of Citizen Police Oversight in Memphis

Paul Garner of Mid-South Peace and Justice Center shows CLERB members almost 200 citizen complaints of officer misconduct that were blocked from being heard.  Click to see clips from CLERB meeting. 

The ink is barely dry on a Memphis City Council ordinance that refreshed the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB), and the board's already limited subpoena power is being challenged by its own city council rep.  New councilman Worth Morgan questions the value and legality of seeking a subpoena to compel evidence and testimony, and he has produced a new ordinance that eliminates subpoena power entirely. 

"Without subpoena power, I don't understand the point or purpose of CLERB besides being a show," says CLERB member John Marek. "Subpoena power is the one 'tooth' that we have."

(At the bottom of this story is a link to a history of CLERB ordinances, passed and proposed.  There is also a timeline of CLERB milestones.  Click here to see Video Clips from the June 14 meeting.  )

Court Upholds Net Neutrality in Latest Battle of Giant Telecoms vs. People

The People of the United States won the latest round in the battle to keep the Internet open and not the lock-stock-and-barrel property of the giant U.S. telecoms, such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon.

Do you want the corporate profit motives in charge of the Internet?  Or, the First Amendment and what's best for the American people?

The U.S. government developed the Internet, first as a military project, and then UCLA scientists working from a government grant helped round the Internet into what we use and enjoy today.

We the People paid for the Internet.  We are not about to give it up.

Link to NYT story.  

Memphis Set to Raise Salary for Next Chief

The next city of Memphis police chief will get a raise of between about $40,000 and $98,000 over the present pay scale.

Salary Range Posted for Next Memphis Police Chief   

In its recruiting brochure, the city states that the salary range for the next director of police services, aka chief, will be $190,577 to $247,750.  The present salary for the position, held by interim director of police services Mike Rallings, is $150,000.  That itself represented a raise in pay instituted by mayor Jim Strickland earlier this year.  Former chief Toney Armstrong was paid an annual salary of $126,001.46. Strickland previously had said the going rate based on other cities was about $250,000, in his estimation, and Memphis may need to raise its salary level to get the best candidate. This posting is the first time the city has published a new salary range for the job.

Memphis has retained the International Association of Chiefs of Police to manage a search for the next chief.  The job was posted May 6, 2016.

Police Career Search Website Shows City of Memphis Chief Job Was Posted May 6, 2016

Top Cop Shopping

Other Cities Recruit Memphis Native for Police Chief

While Memphis Finally Starts Its Formal Search

While local news media press Mayor Jim Strickland about the city’s murder rate

Anne Kirkpatrick

and a search for a new police chief, one nationally prominent candidate for top cop in Chicago and other cities is a Memphis hometowner.

Strickland was reported as saying February 15 that the city would retain the search services of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and that the process would begin within three weeks.                          

More than 11 weeks later, the city has just finished getting its information to the search organization, and the job was officially posted late today May 6.  Deadline for submissions is June 17.  While Memphis has an interim chief in place, and the mayor would say, better to get it right than get it fast, movement on a new chief would quell clamor and uncertainty.  

The Chicago Police Board sifted through 39 candidates and spent $500,000 to conduct a search for a new superintendent of police after Garry McCarthy was fired in the wake of a scandal over a police officer killing 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

One of three finalists for the Chicago job was former Spokane, Washington, police chief Anne Kirkpatrick, who grew up in Memphis and served as a patrol officer for more than three years in Memphis, 1982-1985.  

Dysfunction in the Windy City

If there is any comfort to Memphians in knowing that other cities have trouble getting out of their own way, consider this:  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel rejected the board’s three candidates and named his pick from the existing Chicago police force – but only to be an interim chief, replacing the “old” interim chief of five months.

Emanuel offered the job to DeKalb County, Georgia, director of public safety Cedric Alexander, but then withdrew the offer under pressure from certain Chicago council members and political powers who insisted on a local guy. Alexander, along with Kirkpatrick, were the top two police chief candidates -- not from Chicago -- who were selected during that city's search.  

Strickland has asked interim Director of Police Services Michael Rallings to apply for the permanent post, and Rallings says he will apply.

There are two schools of thought on the subject of a new, permanent chief – that it should be someone who came up through the ranks of the Memphis department, or it specifically should be someone with a fresh perspective from outside. 

Inside Out

If any candidate is uniquely positioned to bridge both those concepts it is Kirkpatrick, who presently travels the country as an instructor for the FBI's Law Enforcement Executive Development Association.  As such, she teaches leadership to executives in local agencies and covers such topics as the problem employee, credibility, discipline and liability. 

This week Kirkpatrick was in Arizona teaching a class.  But, it seems Memphis is never far from her mind.  In fact, Kirkpatrick’s’ parents and two brothers live in Memphis, and she seems to find herself in Memphis regularly – sometimes for work with the FBI and sometimes to visit – as recently as last weekend.

“I’m a change agent,” Kirkpatrick said while on a break between class sessions.  “I think I would be a good fit for Memphis.

“Memphis has almost double the murder rate per capita as Chicago,” Kirkpatrick noted.

“What I am looking for is to be a part of a city and police department that wants to really change the culture of violence,” Kirkpatrick said. “Chicago met that criteria.  Memphis meets that.

A Time to Heal

“I want to come into an agency that struggles or has some major issues, and I want to be part of the healing of that.  I actually think I would be a good healing leader for them and could set them on a course for an excellent future.

“As a community, too, Memphis needs to not accept the level of cultural violence that they have accepted.  They play a part in that as well.

“If I were to apply for the Memphis job it would be as an outsider with an insider’s foundation,” said Kirkpatrick, who also is a licensed attorney in Washington. 

Calling Their Bluff...

Politicians and Lawyers Meet in a Room Called "Bluff" 

Sounds sketchy, right?

Even the district attorney wasn't sure.

"Fasten your seat belts," Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich quipped before an invitation-only forum on body-worn cameras and in-car videos April 6 at University of Memphis.

Judges, defense attorneys and community organizations showed up to hear what a daunting and costly task will be managing body-cam footage and public records requests.  Weirich co-hosted the pow-wow with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

"Body cameras are here to stay," Weirich told the gathering.  She didn't seem to be bluffing.

Click photo link to watch video of the presentation and question-and-answer session.

Link to video of Body-Cam Forum, Memphis, TN

The Story that Never Ran

Departing here from the usual working over issues that are not covered in the mainstream media.  Although the following story involves bad decisions by an official city body -- and have we seen a bunch of that lately -- this is a piece of Memphis history, a bit of nostalgia and a twist of fate.

The Story that Never Ran

Just how close did Memphis come to getting a National Football League team in 1974?

So close that as a 22-year-old Commercial Appeal sportswriter covering pro football, I had a story in the can, which was to run the day after the NFL made its announcement,  recounting the history of the successful effort to bring big-league football to town. 

Of course, it was a story that never ran. 

In fighting the unending battle against clutter and keeping way too much stuff,  I recently came across the 10-page hard copy of my story in a trunk stored off the garage.    

On April 24, 1974, the NFL named Tampa Bay as the location of a new franchise, and the league said a second city would be named June 4.

The Commercial Appeal had thoroughly covered efforts of local businessmen, including promoter Mike Lynn, to convince the NFL expansion committee that Memphis was the place to be – next.

We ran a story saying the deal was about to go down, per unnamed NFL insiders, and E.W. ‘Ned’ Cook was to be the owner. 

Instead, the NFL picked Seattle on June 4, 1974. 

What happened?

Although there was much gnashing of teeth and finger-pointing at the time, the Memphis Park Commission cast the city’s lot with the fledgling and short-lived World Football League on May 6, 1974,  instead of waiting one more month for the NFL to act.

After the park commission had voted 3-1 to lease Memphis Memorial Stadium to a World Football League team headed by John Bassett of Toronto, the NFL could not award Memphis a franchise for fear of a certain anti-trust lawsuit.   Besides, the lease terms that the park commission approved effectively barred another team.  If the park commission had turned down the WFL, it would have been on the city – and the NFL would not be bowling over a new team in a competing league. 

Park Commission members, including chairman E.R. ‘Bert’ Ferguson, took a bird-in-the-hand view of things.  

Some bird.

Only ad executive John Malmo voted against the lease, urging fellow commission members to wait on the NFL to come around.   Since the World Football League was a new outfit, and since its owners and cities were already being shuffled around, it seemed likely that Memphis would have ample opportunity to get a WFL team later, should the NFL fail to come through. 

Bassett, who owned TV and newspaper outlets in Canada and who was married to Carling Beer (“Hey Mabel, Black Label”) heiress Susan Carling, had famously signed Miami Dolphins Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield to give the new league credibility.  Bassett’s WFL franchise, originally the Toronto Northmen, turned to Memphis when Canadian politicians threatened to enact a law forbidding a foreign football league from entering Canada.  

In those ancient days of print journalism – you know, when every city had two major newspapers as God intended – the ongoing pro football story created an opportunity for competition between The Commercial Appeal and The Press-Scimitar.  The Commercial Appeal’s editorial position basically was, Run the WFL scoundrels out of town (which made things extra dicey for me as the beat reporter covering the team).  So, the Press-Scimitar decided to take the opposite tact and became the new team’s biggest cheerleader.  In fact, it was the Press that somehow ginned up calling the team “Grizzlies,” instead of the official name, “Southmen,” although the closest grizzly bear to Memphis is 1,500 miles.

The World Football League folded in the middle of its second season, and a spate of lawsuits with various theories from various persons got nowhere in pursuit of the NFL.  We don’t know for a dead-solid fact if the NFL would have chosen Memphis over Seattle as its next expansion city, but there is little doubt that the park commission sealed the city’s fate when it voted to lease Memphis Memorial Stadium to the WFL team, instead of waiting 29 more days. 

We have some pro “Grizzlies” now, and Memphis is happy about that.  But, amid some dried and faded newspapers shoved in a box in my garage, oh, what could have been and almost was.

'Deep State' Means a Deep Funk for the Rest of Us

Former Congressional staffer Mike Lofgren has a perspective from the inside, while grasping the big picture of how the U.S.  has been sold down the river, and how regular people are crushed under the heavier and heavier wheel of what he calls the 'Deep State.'  

This interview spells it out. 

Is Tennessee about to further dismantle schools and communities with another for-profit device?

The Tennessee House of Representatives may vote as early as Monday Feb. 8 on HB1049 to allow "vouchers" to take millions away from already underfunded county schools.

TAKE ACTION

Find Your Legislator link and Tennessee house of representatives contacts.

Masked and misnamed as "opportunity scholarships," the idea is to give families of poor kids a fixed amount, based on the local public schools' per pupil expenditure, for one year of private schooling.

According to the state, that amount for the 2014-2015 school year was $11,221.60 in Shelby County and $11,496.30 in Davidson County.  For every other county, that amount is less -- significantly less in rural counties.    

Where is the "opportunity?"   First, there is an opportunity to prioritize profit over education.  You might ask, How is $11,000 or less a year per student enough to make a profit?

If your corporate, for-profit school gets enough funding in the early days of the school year, at which time the definitive head count is taken, and then expels students at a higher rate than public schools (which is the practice of charters), that per-student amount increases.  With fewer students, maybe you can terminate a teacher and her compensation, thus bolstering your most meaningful metric of achievement -- the bottom line.

Then, if your only corporate goal is profit, and you are paying teachers less than public or most private schools, and if you don't have a gym, or an auditorium, or a cafeteria, or a playground, or music or phys ed, you cut down your costs.  You do whatever it takes to make the numbers work, and your "students" are merely the cattle or commodity.  For a for-profit charter, two students at $11,000 each would pay for a secretary for one year; three students would pay for a classroom teacher.   

The traditional independent schools won't be accepting these students, unless the parents have the other $20,000 or whatever it takes to make up the balance of tuition.

Besides the bottom-line corporatists, the only other angle for bidding on this voucher money is political indoctrination, meaning schools which claim they are "religious" and have an agenda not to educate but to bend young minds.  

Money taken away from public schools on a per-student basis hurts them by more than the per capita amount -- they still have to run the buses, pay teachers and staff, pay utility bills, etc.  Eleven thousand dollars taken out of their hands does not reduce their costs by nearly that much.

"Opportunity" two:  Return to "separate but equal," a concept struck down by the Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education.  The voucher scheme not only separates students by color and demographics, it separates them from their communities as we continue to shutter neighborhood schools.

"Opportunity" three:  Continue the assault on teachers and unions from the regressive state legislature.  Charter schools do not have to meet the standards of public schools and their teachers, and the erosion of bargaining (less pay, benefits, and prestige) pushes otherwise bright and passionate people from becoming teachers.  

"Opportunity" four:  Churn out cheap labor.  Maybe this should be number one or number two, actually.  Wealthy political forces have for years schemed to keep students out of higher education, instead diverting them to service and low-tech jobs.  This and other moves by legislatures in many states lead to a cheap labor force.

More and more people competing for fewer jobs has already made wages pitiful for many jobs and has taken away the value entirely of other jobs and businesses.  With a minimum wage currently at $7.74 per hour, that's about half of what it takes at minimum for a person to subsist in even a Southern state.

"Opportunity" five:  Make America poor.  With limited education opportunities come limited opportunities generally and for work, let alone prosperity.  America works best when the most people participate in democracy and the economy.  We built a robust middle class in the 1950s through 1970s, only to steadily erode the lot of working families since the mid-1980s.

Here is information and a call to action from TREE -- Tennesseans Reclaiming  Educational Excellence:

TAKE ACTION: PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHERS ARE NOT THE ANSWER House Bill 1049 Advances to Full House where it will be voted on as early as Monday February 8.  It is time to act and help us defeat vouchers. TREE would like you to call and email your House Representative, thank them for supporting public education and educate them on the destructive nature of this legislation. The bill could be heard on the House floor as early as MONDAY February 8. Legislators say they are not hearing from parents & public school supporters. So we need your voice and we need it to be the loudest it has ever been. A phone call is the priority action. You may even hear directly from a TREE member encouraging you to personally call your representative. We have made it easy with our take action button. PRIORITY #1: CALL THEM OR EMAIL and mention the following: Thank them for making public education a priority in Tennessee. And encourage them to continue that focus by voting no on private school vouchers. You want your public schools protected and strengthened. The bill is aimed at a small group of kids in the bottom 5% of schools but once established, TN will expand the program just like every other state that has a voucher program. This bill is already focused on expanding with a clause that allows unused vouchers to go to children outside of the most needy and at risk. You do not want your county’s public school funding to be affected in the future. Tell them you want solutions such as improved teacher to student ratio, Community Schools and full funding for public education which improve outcomes for ALL kids, not just a handful. Numerous voucher studies show they do not improve academic outcomes. Fraud, no accountability, rising taxes to keep the program in place and fewer resources for public education is the outcome that has consistently been shown in other states and that is wrong for TN. Vouchers do not empower the student with choice but rather the private school who picks and chooses who THEY want, It is unfair that private schools would not have to use the rigors TNReady tests like public school do to show our tax dollars are educating children. Other tests will show pointless comparison. Ask them to vote no to private school vouchers. Tell them your name and address and if you are a public school parent, let them know. PRIORITY #2 EDUCATE YOURSELF, YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND YOUR NEIGHBORS  Feel free to use any of our solid research and information that shows Tennessee is proposing a program that is just another step in privatizing government services and the abandoning of our constitution calling for our state to “provide free public education, including maintenance, support and eligibility standards.” Your favorite high-quality private schools indicated, in a Vanderbilt survey, that they will not be taking vouchers. (link to survey info) There are two main reasons. First, they do not want the potential of government intrusion into their testing and curriculum. Second, the proposed voucher amount is not enough to cover the cost of private school tuition. The gap would have to be covered by raising tuition on everyone else. In Nashville, the voucher amount is a mere 20% of average tuition rates. Remember that the “only for the poor” angle is just a short-term ruse. As we’ve seen in Florida and several other states, vouchers, just like charter schools, were expanded from “only for the poor” to families of higher income levels. Stratification and inequality are magnified in a voucher market for students without forms of social and economic capital. Vouchers have the potential to promote even more segregation and inequality than we see today. Civil rights and equality are not the true priorities for the out of state special interest groups that have poured millions into promoting a voucher program in TN to our legislators. This bill already has an expansion piece, offering vouchers to all students in a district with failing schools if the voucher allocation goes unused by the FRL population. If your county has any schools that are in the bottom 10% you should consider your school system a target once children in Memphis and Nashville are shuffled with vouchers. There will always be a bottom 5%. Minority Groups Are being Co-opted, poor kids in priorities schools will not be saved. From Julian Vasquez Heilig (Link to full article here.) “In the case of vouchers, the long-term impact on civil rights is already known. A decade of peer-reviewed research in Chile has demonstrated that a voucher market has increased inequality for students living in poverty and closed public schools. A voucher approach escalates inequality because capital rules the day. Test scores become negotiable capital in addition to hard currency. Students without this capital are denied access to attractive schools because there are other individuals in the market that are more desirable to schools. School choice becomes exactly that in a voucher system — schools choose. So, if you are a proponent of school “choice” and interested in civil rights and equity —- vouchers will not help you realize your goals.” Think vouchers will not expand to your county? The game plan is to expand. Last year the General Assembly passed the Individualized Education Act, a voucher bill for certain special education students where parents can receive a debit card to pay for education services if they withdraw their students from public school and waive protections for students with disabilities through the IDEA.  A year before the program is even set to go into effect and accept its first student, its sponsors have already introduced a bill to dramatically expand the program to children from any private school or even home school.  It is obvious that any parameters set on any voucher bill will quickly be undermined in an attempt to make the program as far-reaching as possible.  Don’t be fooled, any voucher bill will be expanded, which is why it must be opposed in any form. The proposed special ed expansion is here: http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB2592&ga=109 Why are we proposing to waste our tax dollars on a program with a failing track record? Wisconsin taxpayers have paid about $139 million to private schools that ended up being barred from the state’s voucher system for failing to meet requirements. Vouchers would be investing in a failed experiment for our most at risk. Watch this video if you want to see how bad things got in Milwaukee. Now is the time to do something! Public school parents, teachers and supporters want policy and laws that can impact ALL students. It’s time we demand it!  Instead of an expensive voucher program for a few students in urban schools here is what urban teachers and parents want from lawmakers: Fund proven strategies — such as smaller class sizes, student support services, and opportunities in the arts and recess time — all essentials to a quality education. Special needs children, English language learners (ELL) and children struggling below grade level require many additional hours of direct teacher attention. We need to fund time with our students to learn with the focus on teaching instead of testing. We also need to value our high achievers and give them the support and resources they need to shine. Expand local Community Schools programs creating a support mechanism for our high risk students and their families. Create more social justice discipline supports changing suspension from a ticket to prison into an opportunity for a child to find social and academic direction. We don’t want our schools to be left behind by our legislature. We want our tax dollars to serve all children, not just those who are chosen.

Who Will Watch the Watchers? Official Trailer Released Today

As Americans increasingly view police abuses caught on camera -- and after police arrested persons who videoed them in Memphis, Tennessee -- a movement arose to enable citizen oversight of police.

Who Will Watch the Watchers? is an episodic series which examines police and community in U.S. cities.  The series begins with episodes which tell a national story -- that we "drill down" in Memphis.

Vimeo (preferred):

Link to the official trailer for Who Will Watch the Watchers?  Episode I: "No Justice, No Peace."

YouTube:

Link to trailer on YouTube

'Chinga la Migra!' Die-In MLK Day Memphis

"Chinga la Migra!" die-in on MLK Day at National Civil Rights Museum Jan. 18, 2016, protesting unjust and inhumane I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids in Shelby County, Tennessee.

YouTube Link:

'Chinga la Migra!' Protest at Civil Rights Museum on MLK Day

Fear-Mongering over Terrorism Fuels Further Beat-Down of Middle Class

Fear mongers are winning the national narrative -- aided by the corporate media -- which plays into right-wing political rhetoric and widens gulf between haves and have-nots.  Click to read.

Memphis not Ferguson? Darrius is not Eric Garner, Michael Brown, LaQuan McDonald, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott.....

Attorney for Stewart's father reveals officer Connor Schilling
was charged with 'leaving the scene' prior to MPD hiring

UPDATE FEB. 7, 2019
Civil trial brought by mother and father of Darrius Stewart will be heard Feb. 25, 2019, in U.S. District Court in Memphis. City of Memphis recently was dismissed as a defendant.

The DOJ investigated in 2015 but stated Stewart's civil rights had not been violated. However, this investigation led to the DOJ's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) collaborative review of MPD, which was announced in October, 2016, as a hedge by Memphis officials to dodge a more serious possible "patterns and practices" review by the DOJ Civil Rights Division. In April 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions terminated the DOJ's review of policing in Memphis and such ongoing reviews in 13 other cities.

Below is our story from December, 2015, including these witness videos, which are disturbing and contain profanity. These are links published by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and then posted by local media on their YouTube sites. We show clips from these and other largely unseen, disturbing footage from the night Darrius was murdered as part of our documentary on citizen police oversight, Who Will Watch the Watchers?

ORIGINAL CITIZENS MEDIA RESOURCE STORY Dec. 15, 2015:

 Witness #1 video (same as link to the right)

Witness #2 video 


The Department of Justice will independently investigate the killing of 19-year-old Darrius Stewart July 17, 2015, by Memphis police officer Connor Schilling.

This news came before attorneys for Darrius Stewart's family held a press conference today to announce they had read a just-released, 918-page Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report and found that witnesses said Schilling's deadly second shot came as Darrius was trying to get away from him.

Memphis city officials, from the mayor to the police, have insisted this year -- mainly as they were talking against citizen oversight of police -- that "We're not Ferguson." Darrius Stewart's case differs from the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, and from other infamous police killings in one key way:

Darrius Stewart was not the target of police attention; he was a bystander, a passenger in the back seat

Darrius Stewart

of a car at a traffic stop.

In the context of systemic problems which have led to police killings of men who appeared to pose no threat to officers, Memphis, Tennessee, is Ferguson, Baltimore, Cincinnati, North Charleston -- everywhere and Anywhere, USA.  Granted, the public outcry in Memphis after the killing of Darrius Stewart was muted compared to protesters in Ferguson, and in Memphis there was no police rollout of tear gas and tank-like vehicles.

It's a cruel twist that Stewart was a passenger in a car at a traffic stop and was not being accosted by police for anything he was doing.  The other infamous deaths at the hands of police that have made news the past two years involved men who were drivers, in the case of traffic stops, or who were being stopped by police for something they were doing or were believed to be doing.  Not saying here that selling cigarettes on the street in New York (Eric Garner) or running when you see cops in Baltimore (Freddie Gray) are grounds for being choked, shot or beaten to death.

SCHILLING'S RECORD

Carlos Moore, attorney representing Stewart's father, Henry Williams, noted that Schilling had been charged with leaving the scene of an accident in DeSoto County, Mississippi, in 2009, before he was hired to be a Memphis police officer, as well as having a DUI charge for which he was disciplined by MPD in 2014 with an 18-day suspension. In DeSoto County, however, Schilling's 2014 charge was dismissed after the arresting officer failed to appear.

UPDATE Nov. 29, 2017:
Schilling also caught a DUI charge when a Southaven officer found him intoxicated in a Taco Bell parking lot on July 6, 2017. Schilling got a "slap on the wrist," according to attorney Moore and with a fairly easy path toward getting his charge dismissed.   

Was this the third time that the DeSoto County justice system had let Schilling off the hook for drinking and driving?
From The Commercial Appeal: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/crime/2017/11/29/connor-schillings-dui-charge-southaven-could-dismissed/902886001/

"Schilling never should have been hired by the Memphis police department," Moore told us last month after learning of the Citizens Media Resource report about the leaving the scene charge.

No other media has reported this story, so far as we know, although Schilling and the case have gotten intense scrutiny, generally.  Can anyone explain why?  Anyone?  However, the information is a matter of public record and was at one time accessible on the DeSoto County Justice Court website.

Since we confirmed the information about Schilling's Jan. 3, 2009, arrest with a DeSoto County Justice Court deputy clerk, the status of Schilling's case has been changed from "open/pending" to "not guilty."

Huh?

Conner Schilling was charged with leaving the scene of an accident on Jan. 3, 2009

We spoke with two DeSoto County court clerks on Nov. 12 and Nov. 13, and they confirmed that the six-year-old case status was "open/pending," with "no disposition" and with no indication of whether the case had been heard in court or whether Schilling had appeared.  However, one clerk, who said she had looked up the hard file on the case, said that a fine of $190.50 had been turned over to a collection agency in an attempt to recover the amount from Schilling.  The clerk knew Schilling was a police officer.

Somehow, between Nov. 13 and Dec. 3, the status of the case was changed online to "not guilty."  The URL which had gone to the case record showing "open/pending" suddenly went to another person's case.  The "not guilty" version of Case 9201454 appeared on the website -- and the URL was the same as that which contained the former record, except the last number was changed from "5" to "6."

Suddenly, after we talked to DeSoto County deputy clerk, Schiiling's 6-year-old charge was changed to "not guilty"

While a Shelby County grand jury failed to indict Schilling for voluntary manslaughter, there will be a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of surviving family members.  That Schilling had a "leaving the scene" charge on his record before the city of Memphis hired him to be a police officer will bolster's the plaintiff's case, attorneys believe.

Dropbox file showing DeSoto County Justice Court record Connor Schilling Case 9201454 as it existed Nov. 11, 2015 (the date is in upper right corner of the page):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5pzggv7ym3xooud/Connor%20Schilling%20case%209201454.pdf?dl=0

UPDATE FEB. 7, 2019
The following URLs have been changed since our story of Dec. 15, 2015. But, here they are, and you can see they no longer pertain to Schilling.

Resuming from Dec. 15, 2015, story:

Link to DeSoto County Justice Court record Connor Schilling Case 9201454 as it existed Dec. 3, 2015:http://records.desotocountyms.gov/WEBPGMS/JCRINQDEF1.pgm?TASK=disp&rrn=000067286

When we tried to use the link to look at the record online just now, we got an error message: "Safari Can't Open the Page."  We got it to open once -- but it went to a different person's record.

We have not asked the DeSoto County court for an explanation.

Here is a link to Schilling Case 9201454 as we revisited this matter on May 18, 2017, showing the disposition changed to "not guilty:" http://desotoms.info/WEBPGMS/JCRINQDEF1.pgm?TASK=disp&rrn=000067314

Moore said that Schilling's hassling of Stewart represented racial profiling as he would not have asked a white passenger for his ID after a broken headlight traffic stop.

Anecdotes abound among African-Americans about police stopping cars with several black passengers and having everyone get out and show IDs, on the premise that somebody would owe back child support or would have an outstanding warrant on his record.

'Runaway Inequality is ripping us apart'

Les Leopold, author of Runaway Inequality, lays out the damage from the extreme inequality which
favors Wall Street, privatizers and militarization at the expense of the rest of us.  Eighty-five individuals in the U.S. have more wealth than the bottom 50 per cent of Americans.

Truth-out interview with Leopold hits the high spots in this linked story.

'The Suburban Itch' Comedy Short Released for Public Consumption

'The Suburban Itch,' a short film which takes on profiling with humor and Memphis hip-hop music to help the message go down, is released for public viewing free of charge on Vimeo.com and Youtube.com.  Links to the 10-minute film:

Vimeo:   https://vimeo.com/147425971

Youtube:  https://youtu.be/ax1OlkKDvg4

'The Suburban Itch' made its Tennessee premiere Nov. 8 at the Indie Memphis Film Festival, and the posted version of the film includes some audio of audience reaction during that screening.  The film previously had been shown at LA- and NYC-area and other film festivals.  

The film is prospectively a feature film, or the basis of an episodic series.  Producer Moore Media & Entertainment also is developing other stories, including an episodic comedy series and a comedy feature.  

"If you like 'Weeds' and 'House of Cards,' you will like what we have cooking," said producer Gary Moore.  "In 'Second Coming,' a pissed-off Jesus returns to Earth to expose a televangelist who claims the Son of God has personally endorsed the preacher's fund-raising campaign.  First episode is 'What Would Jesus Really Do?'  

"In 'The Pregnant Prick,' House Majority Leader Hiram A. Bullwright , a womanizer and friend of Big Pharma, becomes pregnant as suddenly do men around the world.  Scientists blame climate change for the phenomenon, and Bullwright's politics are turned upside down," said Moore, who is seeking production partners.  

CLERB, Schilling and Darrius

Officer Connor Schilling called in sick today, but it wasn't the first time Schilling has failed to make the scene. Schilling was cited for "leaving the scene" of an accident in 2009, and according to DeSoto County Justice Court, he apparently did not appear for his court date as the record shows the case "open/pending."

On the same day (Nov. 3) when Memphis City Council finally passed the updated CLERB ordinance, 9-2, District Attorney Amy Weirich announced that the grand jury had failed to indict Officer Schilling.  Weirich said she had requested an indictment of voluntary manslaughter in Schilling's shooting to death of 19-year-old Darrius Stewart on July 17.

The DOJ is monitoring the case, and Stewart's family is determined to keep his death and the secret Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report from slipping out of the public consciousness as his mother and others spoke out at a rally Tuesday Nov. 10 at the criminal justice center.

Schilling was scheduled for a Memphis police administrative hearing Friday Nov. 13, but he called in sick, according to local news reports.  Police internal affairs seeks to review Schilling's actions on the night of Stewart's death in the context of police policy and procedures.  The hearing, which is not open to the public and at which Schilling will be represented by counsel, will be rescheduled.

After Stewart's death, local media reviewed Schilling's personnel file.  It showed he had been internally disciplined for a DUI, which was dismissed in Mississippi when the arresting officer failed to show up for court, and an excessive force complaint against him by a local citizen, Cyneitha Campbell, had been found without merit by internal affairs.

Memphis United activists, who have worked more than two years to bring the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board out of an exile illegally imposed by the city administration, point to   Campbell's complaint as something that could have been brought before CLERB -- had it not been disbanded -- and could potentially have helped curb future uses of force by this officer.  CLERB last reviewed a citizen complaint in August, 2011, before being reconvened early this year.  However, the reconstituted CLERB board has yet to hear a case.

Case 9201454 Shows Connor Schilling fined for leaving the scene; screenshot from November 2015

The "leaving the scene" citation was issued Jan. 3, 2009, more than three years before Schilling became a Memphis police officer.  The charge, "710 Leaving the Scene" on case number 9201454, shows an "open/pending" status in DeSoto County Justice Court.  The file shows a fine of $190.50, and the clerk's office says a collection agency has been assigned to attempt to collect.

A Justice Court deputy clerk, however, says the case had "no disposition."  Another clerk in the Justice Court office said there is "no time limit" on an open case.  They could not say whether the defendant Schilling ever appeared in court.  Since there was "no disposition," it seems unlikely there was a hearing -- although that seems to contradict the collection attempt and fails to explain why there has been no disposition or follow up.  The deputy clerk explained they have many cases, so is this just one that fell through the cracks?

Leaving the scene is a misdemeanor, per Mississippi Code Annotated 63-3-403.

DeSoto County records also show Schilling received a ticket for running a red light Nov. 9, 2008, and paid a fine of $150.

Although running a red light is a common violation which many drivers have committed at one time or another, whether cited or not, "leaving the scene" sounds more serious and is the kind of thing a police officer would be expected to deal with in his line of duty.  Why does one "leave the scene?"  This occurred before Schilling was hired to be a Memphis officer, and we are not privy to any particulars other than the dry record.

The "leaving the scene" citation apparently has escaped local media's radar, and perhaps it was not revealed to MPD prior to their hiring of Schilling.  Private companies nowadays scrutinize public records, including arrests, and credit reports, and get mouth swabs or urine specimens, before hiring employees. Fairly or not, in some cases even a traffic ticket may disqualify someone from a job.  Not pre-judging this case without more details, but could "leaving the scene" generally be the basis for disqualifying or further scrutinizing an application to become a police officer?

UPDATE on Nov. 29, 2017: These URLs are now connected to other cases. AND, just days after we spoke with DeSoto County Justice Court in mid-November, 2015, Schilling's "leaving the scene" case was changed to "not guilty." How does that happen?

See screenshot:

Weeks later, this same case almost six years old, suddenly showed "not guilty"

DeSoto County Justice Court website showing Case 9201454:  http://records.desotocountyms.gov/WEBPGMS/JCRINQDEF1.pgm?TASK=disp&rrn=000065333

new link as of dec. 3 2015:  http://records.desotocountyms.gov/WEBPGMS/JCRINQDEF1.pgm?TASK=disp&rrn=000067286