The search for Memphis’s next police director just got real. Mayor Jim Strickland announced seven finalists on March 11, and the clock is ticking. Mike Rallings’s contract expires this month. After five years leading an understaffed department through record-breaking violence, whoever replaces him inherits a mess that no single hire can fix overnight.
For the private security industry in Memphis, this isn’t just a political story. It’s a business story. The identity of the next MPD director will shape patrol strategies, response time priorities, and resource allocation across every precinct. And those decisions directly affect how much local businesses, property managers, and residents lean on private security to fill the gaps.
The Seven Names
The finalist pool draws from both inside and outside MPD. That split matters. An internal candidate likely means continuity with existing programs and relationships. Someone from outside could mean a top-to-bottom review of how MPD operates, including how the department coordinates with private security firms.
Strickland’s office hasn’t said much about the evaluation criteria beyond the obvious: experience in urban policing, community engagement skills, and the ability to manage a department that’s been bleeding officers for years. Memphis PD has roughly 2,000 sworn officers covering a city of more than 650,000 people. Do the math. That’s one officer for every 325 residents, a ratio that would make most police chiefs lose sleep.
The mayor has taken heat from both sides on this search. Reform advocates want someone who’ll change how MPD engages with communities in Frayser, Orange Mound, and Whitehaven — neighborhoods that have complicated relationships with police. Law-and-order voices, especially from Germantown and Bartlett, want someone who’ll crack down harder on violent crime. Strickland has to thread a needle that might not have an eye.
Why Private Security Is Watching
Here’s the part that doesn’t make the evening news. Every time MPD shifts resources, every time response times tick up, every time a precinct commander decides to focus patrol units on one corridor instead of another, the phone rings at private security companies across Shelby County.
It happened through all of 2020. Memphis recorded 332 homicides last year, shattering the previous record. Property crime spiked in commercial corridors along Poplar Avenue and Summer Avenue. Businesses along Winchester Road near the airport started calling security companies they’d never considered before. The connection between MPD’s capacity and private security demand isn’t theoretical. It’s a direct pipeline.
A new director who prioritizes community policing and de-escalation could mean fewer officers on traditional beats. That’s not a criticism of community policing. It’s an observation about what happens when an already thin department redistributes its people. Private security providers would likely see increased demand from commercial properties and residential communities in East Memphis, Cordova, and the medical district around Union Avenue.
On the other hand, a director who pushes for aggressive enforcement and visible patrol presence could slow down the growth that private security has seen in recent years. If businesses feel like MPD has their area covered, they’re less likely to spend money on guards and patrols.
The Staffing Problem Nobody Talks About
Here’s what gets lost in the political debate about policing philosophy. Memphis PD can’t hire fast enough. Officers are retiring, transferring to suburban departments, or leaving law enforcement entirely. The department has been operating below its authorized strength for years, and 2020 accelerated the exits.
This staffing crisis creates a structural floor under private security demand regardless of who becomes director. Even the most aggressive, enforcement-heavy leader can’t put officers on every corner if they don’t have the bodies. Raleigh, Hickory Hill, and Parkway Village have all seen reduced patrol frequency. Commercial property owners in those areas aren’t waiting for MPD to staff back up. They’re hiring private guards now.
Several companies I’ve talked to in recent weeks say their contract inquiries are running 30 to 40 percent above this time last year. One operations manager at a mid-size firm told me they’ve had to turn down contracts because they can’t find enough licensed guards. “We’re all fishing in the same pond,” he said. “MPD can’t hire. We can’t hire. Everybody’s fighting over the same pool of people.”
That’s the real crisis underneath the director search. It doesn’t matter if the next leader wants 500 more patrol officers. The labor market in Memphis won’t support it without major pay increases, and the city budget is already stretched.
What to Watch For
The finalists will go through a public process that includes community input sessions. If you run a security company or manage security for commercial properties, pay attention to what these candidates say about three specific topics.
First, their stance on off-duty employment. MPD has traditionally allowed officers to work off-duty security jobs at businesses, churches, and events. Some departments around the country have tightened these rules. A new director who limits off-duty work would push even more demand toward private security companies.
Second, their approach to precinct-level resource allocation. Some directors manage centrally, pushing resources to wherever the data says crime is worst. Others give precinct commanders more autonomy. Decentralized approaches tend to create more variability in coverage, which means more unpredictable demand patterns for private security.
Third, their relationship with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and suburban police departments. Memphis doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Crime patterns cross jurisdictional lines constantly. A director who builds strong interagency partnerships could improve response times at the edges of the city, where MPD coverage has been thinnest. Failing that, expect continued growth in private security contracts along the city-county boundary zones.
The Bigger Picture
Memphis is at one of those inflection points that comes along every few years. The combination of record violence, a police staffing crisis, pandemic-era budget constraints, and a national debate about the role of policing creates uncertainty that ripples through every related industry.
Private security isn’t immune to that uncertainty. Companies that have built their business models around supplementing MPD coverage need to plan for multiple scenarios. The next director could be a reformer who pulls officers off traditional beats. Could be a traditional enforcer who floods high-crime areas with patrol cars. Could be a technocrat who bets everything on surveillance systems and data-driven deployment.
Each scenario creates a different operating environment for private security. Smart companies are preparing for all three.
The candidates will likely be announced in more detail over the next few weeks, with community forums scheduled across the city. Strickland has said he wants a new director in place before Rallings departs. That’s an aggressive timeline, and it suggests the mayor already has a strong preference among the seven.
For the rest of us, it’s time to stop treating MPD’s leadership transition as someone else’s story. If you’re in the security industry in Memphis, whoever walks into 201 Poplar as the next director will affect your bottom line. Start paying attention now.
What Should You Do?
If you manage security operations for commercial properties, start having conversations with your current providers about contingency planning. Ask them directly: “If MPD response times increase by 15 to 20 percent over the next six months during this transition, what’s your plan?”
If you own a security company, think about staffing pipelines now, not in June when the new director’s priorities start taking shape. The companies that come out ahead in leadership transitions are the ones that anticipated demand shifts before they happened.
And if you’re a Memphis resident who thinks this is just a political story, think again. The person who runs MPD affects whether a patrol car drives down your street at night or whether it’s a private security vehicle with a flashlight and a cell phone. That distinction matters more than most people realize.
We’ll be tracking this search closely. The stakes are too high to look away.