FOX13 Memphis News Staff
MEMPHIS, TN — Eleven Mid-South officers were decertified and lost the credentials needed to work in Tennessee law enforcement on recently.
Seven of those officers workedEleven Officers Decertified, No Longer Allowed to Work in TN Law Enforcement for the Memphis Police Department and two more former MPD officers face decertification when they go before the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Committee in January.
The final decision to decertify the eleven officers was made by the POST Commission a day after the POST Committee recommended the eleven officers for decertification.
Outside of the seven officers who were decertified for violations that happened while part of the Memphis Police Department, the other two officers worked for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, Dyersburg Police Department and University of Memphis Public Safety, respectively, at the time of their violations.
People from Memphis may recognize the POST Committee as the board that recommended decertification for several Memphis Police officers involved in the attempted arrest and eventual murder of Tyre Nichols. Decertification means that an officer loses their accreditation and ability to work in law enforcement in Tennessee. Once the POST Committee recommends that an officer be decertified, they then go before the POST Commission and the commission makes the final decision on whether that officer will indeed be decertified.
FOX13 dug into the history of the officers who were either decertified or who are being considered for decertification by the POST Committee. Here’s what we found out.
Colin Berryhill was one of the first Memphis Police officers reviewed by the Shelby County District Attorney Office’s Conduct Review Unit, a unit formed by the DA’s office to curtail police brutality, according to The Institute for Public Service Reporting Memphis.
Videos released by the DA’s office reportedly led his fellow officers to nickname Berryhill “Taserface.”
The Institute for Public Service Reporting discovered that disciplinary charges were filed against Berryhill in October of 2019 accusing him of violating MPD’s taser and use-of-force policies, six months after an internal investigation opened up into Berryhill and a year before he resigned from the force on October 29, 2020. Berryhill spent 11 years with the department before resigning, The Institute for Public Service Reporting said. Read more of their report here.
On Thursday, the POST Committee moved his hearing to January.
Byron Johnson resigned from the Memphis Police Department with disciplinary action pending, though no further information about what led to that disciplinary action was immediately available. Johnson was previously mentioned in a Facebook post by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland as a positive role model who helped inspire the NBA basketball career of former Memphis Tigers and Los Angeles Laker Tarik Black.
Johnson did not show up to the POST Committee hearing and was recommended for decertification. He was officially decertified on Friday.
Eric Kelly also resigned from the Memphis Police Department with disciplinary action pending. FOX13 reported on Kelly back in 2020 when the former MPD Homicide Detective was accused of having a sexual relationship with a suspect.
He retired from the force on October 31, 2019, days before the MPD commanders would have the chance to fire him.
Kelly was accused of providing drugs to a defendant, though he was never charged with any crime and was still entitled to his entire pension. He was accused of having a sexual relationship with 29-year-old Bridget Stafford, an alleged gang member who Kelly was investigating as an accessory after the fact in a murder case.
Kelly did not show up for the POST Committee hearing and was recommended for decertification. He was officially decertified on Friday.
Travis Pride also resigned from the Memphis Police Department before his superiors had the chance to terminate him.
FOX13 reported on Pride in June of 2021 when the former officer appeared in court, not to give testimony but to face charges of kidnapping and raping an underaged girl.
He was relieved of his duties pending the outcome of a full investigation after being charged with Aggravated Kidnapping and Rape. He also served in the U.S. Army and worked at Youth Villages before joining the Memphis Police Department.
Pride did not show up for the POST Committee hearing and was recommended for decortication. He was officially decertified on Friday.
Sharquawn Henderson is a former Dyersburg Police officer who was arrested after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said that he had sex with a minor while working with the police department.
He was charged in April of 2023 with soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor by electronic means and aggravated statutory rape.
Henderson did not show up for the POST Committee hearing and was recommended for decertification. He was officially decertified on Friday.
Other Officers
Demetrius Walker (MPD) was also scheduled to go before the POST Committee for possible decertification, but Walker’s hearing was postponed until January.
The other officers who were decertified by the POST Commission are as follows:
• David Kelso– Fayette County Sheriff’s Office
• Alexis Granger– Memphis Police Dept.
• Vernon Summer– Memphis Police Dept.
• Michael Tippett– Memphis Police Dept.
• Breigha Wilder Cochran– Memphis Police Dept.
• Thomas Braswell– Shelby County Sheriff’s Office
• Jacoby Wright– University of Memphis Dept. of Public Safety
