UPDATE: The commission has passed a motion for default decertification for Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin, and Justin Smith. It is expected to be heard/decided Friday.
Desmond Mills’ order of surrender will also be taken up in front of the commission Friday.
Haley, Martin, Smith, Mills and their attorneys did not attend the meeting.
MPD requested to move forward with DeWayne Smith’s decertification. The commission has added it to Friday’s agenda.
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UPDATE: According to POST, MPD reversed course Thursday, and is again requesting that retired former Lt. DeWayne Smith be decertified as an officer.
MPD contacted POST Thursday, to take back their request of the rescinding of the decertification for Dewayne Smith. the state board said. POST said it isn’t commenting further.
MPD said they wanted to delay the hearing until there was clarification about their ability to decertify an officer who retires before being terminated, but internally the request was “misunderstood.”
Read MPD’s full statement below.
An earlier story is below.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Representatives from the Memphis Police Department may be at Thursday’s POST commission meeting in Nashville, as several officers involved in the Tyre Nichols case are set for an informal hearing for decertification.
However, MPD has been asked to show up because the department has reportedly decided to reverse course and rescind its decertification request for DeWayne Smith. Smith’s name was just added to the agenda Wednesday.
Smith retired from MPD March 1, a day before an administrative hearing was held that would have led to his termination, according to documents.
MPD submitted a decertification request to Peace Officer Standards and Training commission for Smith on March 9. Those records just recently became public.
Here’s what a spokesperson from POST said about the change:
“After receiving the request from the Memphis Police Department to rescind retired officer Dewayne Smith’s decertification, POST staff requested MPD representatives appear before the Commission on Thursday to discuss the request.”
We’ve reached out to MPD to find out why they want to rescind their request and we’re waiting to hear back.
Meanwhile four other officers’ names are on the agenda, but it’s unclear how many of them will actually be there. Desmond Mills voluntarily surrendered his license. His attorney confirmed they’d signed an order that will be entered after the hearing.
Since the matter is settled, they will not be present. An attorney for Demetrius Haley also said neither he nor his client would be there.
WREG has reached out to attorneys representing Justin Smith and Emmitt Martin but have yet to hear back.
