After many months of action by Memphis United’s coalition partners and Mid-South Peace and Justice Center’s members, we collectively played an integral part in making change happen. The results were the process to restore C.L.E.R.B. and the opportunity of the Memphis United Coalition to hold 9 community forums in a town-hall style in each City Council district.
It will be the people of Memphis who determine how to equip the reformed Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board with the tools to be more effective.
The Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (C.L.E.R.B.) has been inactive for over four years. When the C.L.E.R.B. was active, it was still a flawed process. There was lack of real oversight authority especially it was absent of subpoena power. C.L.E.R.B. was stifled by various factors, including the fact that its charter of that time only permitted it to review investigations that have already been made by the M.P.D.’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
Movement was started to restore C.L.E.R.B. When the Memphis City Council voted unanimously on May 6 for a referendum for Memphis United to hold 9 community forums in each city council district to get community input on the necessary tools to make C.L.E.R.B. more effective. Memphis City Council on June 2, 2014 voted to accept the mayor’s appointments to the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board. Congratulations to David Acey, Suzanne Baker, Floridia Jackson, Nathaniel Jones, Bruce Kramer, John Marek, Charles Morris, Carissa Shaw, Corliss Shaw and Rev. Ralph White. Now the Memphis community will decide which tools should added to make C.L.E.R.B. more effective in a community forum near you.
Memphis United successes are a result of grassroots mobilizing and narratives like K’PreSha, Paul Garner, and recently Journalist Deborah Robinson that highlights the lack of a communication process for citizens to seek redress for law enforcement policy violations. The Memphis United coalition continue to expect success on issues ranging from improving conditions for people experiencing homelessness, rights for differently able citizens, police accountability, backlog of the rape kits, u-visas, etc.
Here’ s what you can do to get involved today!
It’s your choice how to get involved.
1. Show your support by taking the online support form.
A bureaucratic nightmare still awaits citizens who want to make claims against the Memphis police. So we’ve created a petition in a Google form to support the reinstatement with a transparent process. The complaint portion is option for people to tell their story about any questionable experiences with law enforcement whether they reported the incident or not.
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2. Join the Memphis United Coalition
You could join us by attending organizing meetings or be a part of shaping the strategy of creating a Community Action Plan.
Memphis United Organizing Meeting June 4, 2014 @ Caritas Village 6:00 pm-7:30 pm
Memphis United Organizing Meeting June 11, 2014 @ Caritas Village 66:00 pm-7:30 pm
Memphis United Strategy and Community Action Plan Meeting June 18, 2014 @ Caritas Village 6:00 pm-7:30 pm
3. Join us for outreach and canvassing.
Saturday June 21, 2014 10:00 am- 2:00 pm
Sunday June 22, 2014 11:00 am- 1:00 pm
4. Attend a forum in your city council district.
The first forum will be held at Lewis Davis CME Church June 24, 2014 @ 6:00 p.m.
We will be announcing the other forums in action alerts over the next weeks.
5.Contact Marquita if you would like to volunteer with Memphis United.
6. Like Memphis United on Facebook