Judge rules in favor of Memphis police union, says city must eliminate new police rank
By: Lucas Finton
Key Points
- A Shelby County Circuit Court judge upheld a ruling that the City of Memphis violated its contract with the Memphis police union when it created a new second lieutenant rank.
- The ruling may result in the demotion of 125 officers who were promoted to the new rank.
- The police union stated it will work with the city to create a new rank that adheres to their agreement.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from the City of Memphis.
A Shelby County Circuit Court judge upheld a ruling that said the City of Memphis violated its contract with the Memphis police union when it created a new rank, the union said in a press release Thursday.
The ruling may result in several officers being demoted, but the Memphis Police Association, the police union, said in a press release that it will work with the city to create a “new rank within the confines of our mutual agreement.”
“Judge [Damita] Dandridge’s ruling is another validation of the strength of the agreement between the city and the MPA,” the union said in an email statement. “The MPA looks forward to the city complying with the judge’s order and meeting to implement a new rank within the confines of our mutual agreement.”
A City of Memphis official said in a statement that the city “hopes the parties can resolve this matter through negotiation, but unless and until we do, the city plans to appeal” Dandridge’s ruling.
The legal fight stems from the creation of the second lieutenant rank in February 2023. There were 125 officers promoted to this new rank, which is below lieutenant rank but above sergeant. The second lieutenant rank required five years of experience, but none of it had to be served in an investigative role.
The traditional lieutenant rank requires seven years of experience, of which at least two had to be served in an investigative role.
An arbitrator ruled in March 2024 that the city violated a memorandum of understanding by creating the rank. That arbitrator’s ruling required all 125 officers to be demoted and for the second lieutenant rank to be removed.
Later, the city filed a motion to vacate the arbitrator’s ruling, saying the arbitrator exceeded the scope of their authority.
Police who earned the second lieutenant rank were excluded from the police union’s bargaining unit. Any Memphis Police Department officer can be part of the union, but only those ranked sergeant and below are part of its bargaining unit.
The city argued in filings that the rank was supported by the police union until it was told that those promoted would not be part of the bargaining unit. Union President Matt Cunningham pushed back on that argument in an April 2024 press conference, saying he was mainly concerned with maintaining the memorandum of understanding with the city.
He did, however, say keeping the rank within the bargaining unit would be a way forward in negotiations.
“We were fine if they were supervisors, but there was a 1984 executive order from the city that prevented it,” Cunningham said in April 2024. “It said supervisors could not be part of a bargaining unit with the association. Mayor Young has indicated that he’s open to addressing that, and maybe amending that or creating an exception for police. So there’s one way forward there.”
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