MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Sometimes pictures can speak loudly. Four years ago, when protestors shutdown the I-40 Bridge, there were pictures of them Interim Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings.
Remember?
He was there standing with people before leading them off the bridge. One of those people was Community Activist Rev. Earle Fisher.
“I made an error in 2016,” he now said, “... coming off the bridge with Director Rallings, thinking he could be somebody who could actually change the system.”
Rev. Fisher doesn’t have high hopes with a new 13 member Police Advisory Council. Mayor Jim Strickland wants the group to meet for the next six weeks before making recommendations.
Rev. Fisher said, “I think the committee is missing a critical and crucial element. Some of the committee members feel the same way. You can’t replace those whose knowledge comes from being on the front lines. “
Reverend Fisher serves on a special committee run by Memphis City Council woman Jamita Swearingen. He wishes people would react to police misconduct as quickly as they did with graffiti at the Levitt Shell and Graceland.
“The response was immediate,” he said. “Didn’t have to put a committee together, didn’t have to call a press conference. Didn’t have to convene a group about funding. It was seen as egregious. I wish we had a response to the criminal justice fiasco the same way.”
