The 901: This is why people don't trust Memphis police

Good morning from Memphis, where Ja Morant is now a Nike shoe model. Kind of. But first ...

The Memphis Police Department is buying gadgets that can access private phones without permission — and no, MPD won't answer any questions about it.

That's according to the latest, subscribers-only exposé from the investigative duo that is our Sarah Macaraeg and Daniel Connolly. I won't spoil the story, but it's a deep dive into everything we know about the new phone-cracking equipment MPD is buying, how it might be used, and potential privacy issues it raises. It's well worth the small price of a subscription. So, if you haven't already, read the story here before you proceed.

Done? OK, great. It's good, right? Told you.

So, without rehashing the story (again, read it if you haven't already), let's focus this morning on how this is another episode in a seemingly never-ending series that could be titled, "How to lose lawsuits and alienate your people." 

Like in the past — the StingRay eavesdropping equipment and the City Hall "blacklist" come to mind — MPD isn't answering perfectly reasonable questions. Questions like, "Don't you need a warrant to access someone's phone without permission?" Or, "Should the police really be rummaging through the phones of people who haven't committed a crime?" Or, "What's to stop MPD from abusing this new technology — to spy on activists again, for one example?"

These are all good questions. Responsible questions. Questions everyone should have. And maybe there are reasonable answers. Maybe the tech can be used responsibly, and there are policies and safeguards to prevent abuse or misuse of the technology. 

But we don't know because, once again, MPD isn't answering any of those questions.

Of course, there are excuses — including, at the top of the list, not wanting the bad guys to know all of your crime-fighting secrets. That makes sense. But Memphians aren't asking MPD for its investigators' notes — they're asking what will keep MPD from hacking into their cell phones when they haven't done anything wrong. And in Memphis, where the police department has an unfortunate history of spying on civil rights activists and then burning the evidence — those are questions that deserve an answer.

The one leading that charge should be our newly reelected mayor, Jim Strickland, who has touted his administration as being one of the most transparent in city history.

Speaking of Memphis policing: Our Tonyaa Weathersbee has an excellent column today on how superficial solutions to gang activity won't solve the underlying issues.

MLGW to raise electric rates this July

For years, Memphis Light, Gas and Water asked for an electric rate hike. And for years, the Memphis City Council said "no" — that is, until last night, our Sam Hardiman reports.

Sam sums up what happened at last night's council meeting: 

The Memphis City Council approved a 7.2% rate hike for MLGW, the city-owned utility. That comes to $8.98 on the average residential payer's monthly bill over the next three fiscal years. The first piece of the rate hike — $3.70 a month — will take effect this July.

That's not a small amount, especially in a city with a poverty rate of 27.8%. If this is a burden on people, perhaps it's time for the council and MLGW to have a conversation about expanding its low-income programs. But I've made the point before that you get what you pay for: And Memphis power outages seemed to be getting worse.

The money from the rate increase could help stabilize the system, Sam reports:

The money from the electric rate will be used to fix substation and distribution infrastructure that have proven faulty in recent years as outage minutes have climbed during storms and other events.

But, as Sam notes in his story (read it), the council placed conditions on the increase.

Speaking of the Memphis City Council: The council usually rubber stamps the mayor's appointments — but not this year. After delaying the appointments once, the council last night approved them — but only after Mayor Jim Strickland came down and argued for them. And he wasn't happy, as Sam reported via Twitter last night:

Morant featured (?) in new Nike ad

The Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant, the rookie who is guiding his team closer to the NBA playoffs, now belongs to the prestigious club of Nike show models, our Evan Barnes reports. But you might not know if from watching the Instagram ad:

Things to know, places to go, in the 901

• For subscribers: Our FedEx beat reporter Max Garland looks back at the Memphis-based shipping giant's ups and downs over the past year.
• Also for subscribers: Our Memphis Tigers basketball beat reporter Jason Munz checks in on the women's basketball program and coach Melissa McFerrin, who was accused in the offseason of mistreatment and abuse of her players. Also, don't miss Jason's latest Memphis Tigers basketball mailbag about the men's team's offense, recruitment and more.
• Our Laura Testino writes about 10-year-old Jadon Knox, who was shot and killed in Orange Mound over the weekend, and about how gun violence affects kids.
• How smart is 'smart growth'? Germantown nearly doubled its sales tax revenues over the past five years, our Corinne Kennedy reports.
• Our Ted Evanoff digs into why Memphis-based ServiceMaster's chief executive officer just resigned after only three years on the job and what's next.
• These two local restaurants get our Jennifer Chandler's nod of approval: Cordova's Tannoor Grill and East Memphis' Southern Hands Home Style Cooking.

The Fadeout: Booker T. Jones

This is a little late (sorry), but Memphis music legend Booker T. Jones was in Memphis Saturday to perform songs from his new album, "Note By Note," which is meaning to accompany his new memoir, "Time Is Tight."  But you already know all about that if you read last week's Bob Mehr story on the album and memoir.

Unfortunately, we don't have new music videos (yet?) to go along with the album. So, to fade us out, here's Jones' stripped-down version of his "Born Under a Bad Sign," performed live in a 2011 NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert...

Like The Fadeout? The 901's Spotify playlist has all of the available featured songs from local artists.

Columnist Ryan Poe writes The 901, a running commentary on all things Memphis. Reach him at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @ryanpoe.

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