UPDATE: Memphis Activist Kicked Off Police Reform Task Force After Viral Arrest for Filming Officers In Black Neighborhood—Calls Decision ‘A Cop-Out’
After going public with allegations of police misconduct, Memphis policy organizer Amber Sherman was kicked off a Police Reform Task Force in a move she called “a cop out.”
On the morning of April 10, Amber walked down Mount Vernon Road and came upon a search warrant in progress. She noticed an energy drink placed on top of a police car and began filming from the public sidewalk.
Angry words were exchanged with a police officer, and chaos ensued. During her arrest, Sherman claimed an officer threatened her with mace, twisted her arm behind her back, and failed to read her her Miranda rights, Atlanta Black Star previously reported. While in custody, she noticed an officer had removed his body camera, and it sent chills down her spine.
After 17 hours, she was released on her own recognizance, but she would soon experience another blow. Sherman was swiftly “terminated” and relieved of her duties on the newly formed Integrity Policing Initiative, of which she had been an integral part since its inception two months ago.
“I wasn’t surprised,” she told Atlanta Black Star, but the reason cited, that she would no longer “appear objective,” made her bristle. She believes it was just “an excuse” — an excuse to avoid controversy.
“Saying I couldn’t be objective while remaining on the task force wasn’t true because I’ve been working with the current Mayor’s administration for almost two years now on police reforms,” she explained. In fact, a data transparency project she facilitated for the police department just came to fruition last week. It’s a groundbreaking, daily updated dashboard of traffic stops made available online.
“It includes the race, sex, reason for the stop, and that information is on an open dashboard so people can see what the stop is for and if there’s noticeable patterns,” she said, adding, “traffic stops are usually how police get some interaction with citizens, and then the brutality happens.”
Sherman has dedicated to her life to advocating for the Black community in Memphis, and graduated from Hodges University, summa cum laude, with a master’s in legal studies. She has been deeply involved in policy reform for two years and has no plans of stopping now, despite her sudden ouster.
“I would say I’m more beneficial and more productive not on a task force, because that task force has literally done nothing,” she told Atlanta Black Star.
The group of community leaders, led by retired federal Judge Bernice Donald, had been tasked with proposing policy changes after a damning U.S. Department of Justice report revealed rampant corruption and racism in the Memphis police department.
The letter sent to Sherman was penned by Donald and cc’d to Memphis Mayor Paul Young. It read in part, “While the work of the Task Force is to address misconduct through police reform, the developing and ongoing nature of your own matter creates a serious conflict of interest. The conflict makes it difficult for you to appear objective in carrying out the work of the Task Force. It is imperative that our work be independent of personal controversies and viewed as in the best interest of our community as a whole.”
Sherman does not plan to appeal the decision. “I feel like it was a cop-out… my talents will be more effective elsewhere.”