The Memphis Police Department is preparing for its clergy academy, with applications available on its website. Here's what was on the docket for the week of Jan. MPD is accepting applications for its next clergy police academy. Enrollment is open until Feb. Tadario Holmes, the clergy academy coordinator, is in his seventh year hosting the training.
Currently, Holmes said there are faith-based leaders that have finished the program. Those graduates include people from various religious sects, and he said there was an atheist who went through the training as well.
The program began in , Holmes said, as a way to connect better with communities. Faith leaders who complete the academy are then assigned to a precinct and can be contacted for rapid response to crimes where victims or witnesses may need comfort. The academy starts March 20 and will last seven weeks. Classes will be hosted once a week, on Thursday nights. Anderson informed County Mayor Lee Harris he would be resigning at the end of His last day on the bench will be March 1.
The commission set a timeline for hiring his replacement in a Monday afternoon vote. Applications are due by Feb.
Anderson faced heavy scrutiny for his bail decisions in the year leading up to his resignation. He did not mention those pressures as a reason for leaving the bench, instead saying it was a pre-planned arrangement between Anderson and his wife. From Jan. Motions continue to be filed in the Tyre Nichols civil lawsuit , some under seal, which includes attorneys for the City of Memphis asking to have documents previously listed as confidential publicly filed.
