GEOFF BENNETT: It's been almost two months since the police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee.

Five police officers have pleaded not guilty in his fatal beating.

In all, the city's investigation into the incident has implicated at least 13 officers and four fire department employees.

White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez recently spent some time in Memphis to explore where the city goes from here.

And a warning: The story contains some disturbing images.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Lifelong Memphian Keedran Franklin wants his city to be different.

KEEDRAN FRANKLIN, Community Organizer: I would love to see like not a police force, but more like a community, like, guiding department, right?

I would like to see more therapists, more health specialists in our communities.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Following the killing of Tyre Nichols, Franklin, a 36-year-old community organizer, thinks change won't come from the Memphis Police Department KEEDRAN FRANKLIN: I have no trust in them to do anything.

They have had this long to try to do something.

They have been knowing that it was terrible, so I don't have any trust that they will do the right thing.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Despite the disbanding of the so-called SCORPION unit, whose officers fatally beat Nichols, many Memphians say the culture within the entire police department is to blame.

KEEDRAN FRANKLIN: Disbanding that unit does not disband that mind-set.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Many residents in Memphis are still processing the trauma of Tyre Nichols' death.

From that pain is a new push in the city to change policing, but there are divisions over how best to achieve reform.

Pastor Ricky Floyd, who's been shot and carjacked himself, doesn't want funds diverted away from police, especially when crime in Memphis is up by a third over last year.

PASTOR RICKY FLOYD, Pursuit of God Transformation Center: A job that was once honored, celebrated, valued and appreciated now are looked at in many people's eyes as the scum of the earth.

And so I'm not for defunding the police officer.

I am for reforming, revisiting, revitalizing, reviewing.

Most of the people in Frayser don't even know this exists.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In the North Memphis neighborhood that is home to his church, Floyd sees opportunity.

PASTOR RICKY FLOYD: It has the reputation of being one of the most economically deprived, low-education, violent neighborhoods in the city of Memphis.

We have a responsibility, instead of pointing the fingers, to dig roots in the dirt where we are and make something positive happen in our community.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: For Floyd, that means connecting community members to jobs in affordable housing.

But it also means resisting the kinds of police reform that some Memphians want, like changes to traffic enforcement.

PASTOR RICKY FLOYD: They find real criminals by traffic violations.

I would rather they pull me over and pull this other guy over who's going to go do a crime.

I would rather lose that five minutes than for somebody else to lose their life.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Last week, Memphis residents packed the chambers of city hall, as counselors advanced a series of ordinances aimed at combating police misconduct, among them, improve transparency and data collection on use of force, limits on the use of unmarked cars, establishing an independent review of all police training techniques, and restrictions on certain kinds of traffic stops that are often pretextual.

But some activists and residents want more, an end to all task forces and specialized units like SCORPION, even the firing of Cerelyn "C.J."

Davis, the city's first bill Black female police chief.

The police department declined our request for an interview.

You have been somewhat critical of the transparency from the Memphis Police Department.

Do you think -- are you satisfied with what you're hearing from them and from Chief Davis?

MARTAVIUS JONES, Memphis City Council Member: No.

No.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: City Council Chairman Martavius Jones says getting rid of the chief is premature, but: MARTAVIUS JONES: To not be in front of the public in an instance like this just gives the impression there's something to hide.

People just want to be updated.

The council wants to be updated on these things.

And we haven't been adequately.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Jones also wants a better understanding of the role of those specialized units before he calls for their elimination.

And he says funding shouldn't necessarily be diverted from police, which means the city may need to raise taxes to help grow other services.

MARTAVIUS JONES: I look at what we have done as a city.

We have continuously increased the police budget.

But when we look at the activities for young people in our community, there's been a serious decline.

I think that a large part of our issues here from a crime standpoint deals with our high poverty rate.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Today, almost a quarter of Memphians live below the poverty line.

And in this majority-Black city, that number is even higher for people of color.

Lisa Bennett, a retired educator who spent more than half her life in Memphis, says more money should be given to Memphis schools, instead of police.

LISA BENNETT, Memphis Resident: I'm a 52-year-old lifelong Southern Black woman.

I have a history of not good experiences with law enforcement in my own life.

That part of me is almost afraid to be hopeful, because I don't -- I don't want to be disappointed.

I -- it's pretty traumatic.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: When Bennett was about 3 years old, her father was killed by police.

LISA BENNETT: I'm old enough of a realist to know -- to know that policing is not going to go away.

MPD is not going to be disbanded.

But I do think that there needs to be some cultural shifts.

The system and the culture of policing allowed them to beat a man to death and feel confident that it was OK to do it, because they did it on camera.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Bennett mostly supports the City Council steps so far.

But, as Memphis charts a path forward, she's not confident they're enough to create lasting change.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Laura Barron-Lopez in Memphis.