Governor Bill Lee signs bill to undo traffic stop reforms
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Governor Bill Lee signed a bill Thursday to undo Memphis Traffic stop reforms following the death of Tyre Nichols.
The Memphis City Council made the bill after the fatal police beating of Tyre Nichols last year. City and state leaders are now weighing in with their reactions.
“So, anytime there are bills or anything coming from the state that remove our ability of determining our destiny, we’re going to speak out against it,” said Mayor Paul Young. “I’m a firm believer that we should have the ability locally to define our own path that our city council and residents spoke out for those ordinances. I’m disappointed to see them signed out of law.”
TN Senate passes bill to undo Memphis traffic stop ordinance
Earlier this month, the parents of Tyre Nichols traveled to Nashville to make a plea to Republican lawmakers to find a compromise.
“I don’t know about the rest of the state, but in Memphis, we need pretextual stops,” said Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather. “We all know our son got pulled over for a pretextual stop and ended up getting murdered. So, you tell us should we continue to keep having these pretextual stops?”
The governor’s signature makes some of Memphis’ ordinances null and void. It includes so-called pretextual traffic stops, such as for a broken taillight and other minor violations.
“All of our hearts go out to the Tyre Nichols family and what happened to Tyre Nichols on that fateful night had nothing to do with an ordinance about routine traffic stops. What it had to do about was five bad cops who were intent on killing Tyre Nichols that night,” said Republican Senator Brent Taylor.
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Taylor, the bill sponsor, applauds the governor for signing the law because of what he calls overreach by the City Council that led to confusion.
“It was important that we clarify this and clear up any misunderstanding that law enforcement officers have and any misunderstanding that the public has when they can be pulled over and allow the police to do their job,” Taylor said.
As for Young, he says his administration will be meeting with their attorneys about the law and what can still be enforced when it comes to traffic stop reforms.
“Things like data tracking and spreadsheets and things that document the number of incidents of traffic stops,” said Young. “So, those are the types of things that we will be able to continue to do.”
The Department of Justice is still investigating how Memphis Police Department officers use force and conduct arrests and whether the department engages in racially discriminatory policing.
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