MEMPHIS, Tennessee — There's proposed legislation that could abolish community oversight boards like the Citizen Law Enforcement Review Board, or, CLERB.
However, critics say it would undo all the efforts of protesters and what the family of Tyre Nichols has requested –transparency.
Memphis NAACP President Van Turner is calling this legislation a “slap in the face” after Nichols was beaten to death by MPD officers.
"Here we are just a month or so after Tyre Nichols was brutally beaten and murdered," Turner said. "The legislature is working against us.”
It’s proposed legislation that would disband CLERB, which has been around in Memphis since 1994, investigating misconduct filed against MPD.
Turner, running for Memphis mayor in 2023, believes it’s harmful.
“When you put a bill forward which undoes the strength of that type of board which says that complaints have to go to the internal review office of the law enforcement agency, what you're doing is allowing the police to police themselves,” he explained
Turner said that’s the problem in the first place.
If House Bill 0764, which is sponsored by Sen. Mark Pody becomes law, CLERB would dissolve and be replaced by a police advisory committee.
Its seven members would be selected by the mayor.
“The Commander in Chief of the armies in our armed forces cannot be himself or herself part of the military," added Turner. "That's to prevent the dictatorships and the strongarm tactics that we've seen used in other countries throughout the world. So there is a reason why you want civilians to overlook and to have some type of authority to review law enforcement.”
A police advisory committee wouldn’t independently investigate a police misconduct complaint – but instead hand it over to internal investigative affairs under MPD.
Pody’s argument includes that sensitive documents would then be concealed for any pending prosecution.
“You can redact information," counterargued Turner. "It seems like this is punishment for doing what should be done and what was done here locally. Now this bill will perhaps make those efforts more difficult.”
Turner iss asking for the bill to be sent back to a study session.
ABC24 reached out to the bill’s sponsor via phone and emailed questions – but has not received a response.
