TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Mar 23, 2023

The Memphis Police Department (MPD) says it will move forward with a decertification request for MPD Lt. Dewayne Smith, who was on the scene of the Tyre Nichols beating but retired with benefits a day before a hearing to fire him. The Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (P.O.S.T.) scheduled a hearing Thursday about the decertification request, but MPD then asked to rescind the request. P.O.S.T. called on the department to answer questions as to why it was going back on the decertification request. Then this morning, MPD halted that request to stop the decertification, calling the request “a misunderstanding.” ABC24 has the full MPD statement and additional details about Smith’s actions the night Nichols was beaten.