SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — After several delays in the Shelby County Commission to vote on a ban to pretextual traffic stops, like the one that resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols in January in Memphis, the issue finally came to a vote in commission Monday.
The ban on pretextual traffic stops failed after a 6-5-1 vote in Shelby County Commission Monday, after more than an hour of debate and commentary from commissioners and the public.
The ordinance would have requested the Shelby County Sheriff's Office adopt a similar policy to what the Memphis Police Department adopted earlier in 2023, ending traffic stops based on profiling unless the sheriff's deputy had probable cause a crime had been committed.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner spoke to the media earlier Monday, saying if the measure passed, he would not adopt the policy at the Sheriff's Office.
"If you read the ordinance, it's only a request right now," Bonner said. "I’m not willing to abide by that request right now, I hope that it's something that we can work through collectively...I want to keep the community as safe as possible."
Two county ordinances related to the Shelby County Sheriff's Office did pass Monday. One requests the Sheriff collect and report data regularly on SCSO's specialized units and traffic stops conducted by the SCSO. This would include participation in multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency task forces.
The last ordinance, and second one passed, would request the SCSO compile data related to traffic stops, arrests, use of force and citizens' complaints against law enforcement officers.
While two of these ordinances passed, it's important to note, these are requests and not requirements. Though the Sheriff is in agreement on publicizing data. The votes came down just days before the election for the next Memphis Mayor where Sheriff Bonner is vying for a seat overlooking the city.