The City Council rejected Mayor Paul Young’s recommendation to rehire Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis in a non-binding test vote Tuesday afternoon.
“The rank-and-file — a lot of them, they just don’t support you. They don’t like you,” Councilwoman Pearl Walker told Davis. “What is it you feel you can do to improve relations with the rank-and-file?”
The vote was 7-6 against.Voting for Davis: Rhonda Logan, Pearl Eva Walker, Edmund Ford Sr., Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, Michalyn Easter-Thomas and Janika White.
Voting against Davis: Chairman JB Smiley Jr., Ford Canale, Jana Swearengen-Washington, Chase Carlisle, Jerri Green, Philip Spinosa and Jeff Warren.
The Daily Memphian reported that Davis “grew visibly uncomfortable.”
Multiple times, she clutched her binder and bottle of water and made as if she wanted to leave the dais only to face further questions. – The Daily Memphian.
The grilling lasted 90 minutes before Davis and Paul Young took off, refusing to take questions from reporters.
