MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Former Memphis Police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith are in federal custody after a jury found them guilty on at least one charge in the death of Tyre Nichols. Despite that verdict, the Department of Justice is still investigating potential systemic issues within the Memphis Police Department's policies and practices.
Michael Working with The Working Law Firm believes the DOJ could be looking into how MPD's policies affect the community after what happened the beating death of Tyre Nichols, and how basic citizen rights were not followed.
Working said the use of force carried out by MPD has been a well-known issue.
"It had become so commonplace, so standard, so normal, so average regular course of business; that would be what the DOJ is investigating in terms of how did we develop a culture like this within the Memphis Police Department," he said.
The DOJ has not released their findings into the systematic issues within MPD's policies and practices.
Working said the federal government exists to serve as a baseline for basic human rights.
He said the DOJ could uncover the department may be falling short with following those basic rights after their investigation is complete.
"Generally speaking, when the federal government comes in, it's that kind of situation where states are falling below the federal minimum standard," Working said.
State Representative Justin J. Pearson said he plans to introduce several new laws during next year's legislative session. He said his goal is to combat discriminatory practices from government entities and institutions and address ending police brutality.
"Your police stop because you're Black shouldn't be different than your police stop being white, and we know right now that's the case," Pearson said. "It's gonna be difficult to pass a lot of that at the state house, I'll be honest with you, but that's not going to stop us from fighting for it."
Pearson said his ideas came from what he learned during the four-week federal trial of former MPD officers, Bean, Smith and Haley.
He said he's hoping to put a stop to what happened to Tyre Nichols with introducing and passing new laws to prevent another death like Nichols from happening again.
Pearson said state lawmakers have a duty to keep people safe. He said something needs to change in the policies and practices for all law enforcement departments in the state.
"I heard a lot of things from the police department who were on the stand during this trial that we need to follow up with and the city council needs to make sure they're creating policies around to make sure that our policing practices are the best that they possibly can be," he said. "That we aren't terrorizing communities, that we're supporting communities in the ways that they need to be supported."
Pearson said he'll introduce new legislation once next year's session starts.
Tennessee Republican lawmakers have obtained a super-majority in the legislature and have avoided passing any reform measures.