An unarmed Black man dies after a videotaped beating by police. The officers involved are fired. After a thorough review of the evidence, criminal charges are swiftly filed against the offending officers.
Investigation, accountability and charges.
This is often the most Black citizens can hope for as the deaths continue. Nationwide, police have killed roughly three people per day consistently since 2020, according to academics and advocates for police reform who track such deaths.
Tyre Nichols鈥� fatal encounter with police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, recorded in video made public Friday night, is a glaring reminder that efforts to reform policing have failed to prevent more flashpoints in an intractable epidemic of brutality.
Nearly 32 years ago, Rodney King鈥檚 savage beating by police in Los Angeles prompted heartfelt calls for change. They鈥檝e been repeated in a ceaseless rhythm ever since, punctuated by the deaths of Amadou Diallo in New York, Oscar Grant in Oakland, California, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and so many others.
George Floyd鈥檚 murder in Minneapolis in 2020 was so agonizing to watch, it summoned a national reckoning that featured federal legislation proposed in his name and shows of solidarity by corporations and sports leagues. All fell short of the shift in law enforcement culture Black people in America have called for 鈥� a culture that promotes freedom from fear, trust in police and mutual respect.
鈥淲e need public safety, right? We need law enforcement to combat pervasive crime,鈥� said Jason Turner, senior pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. 鈥淎lso, we don鈥檛 want the people who are sworn to protect and serve us brutalizing us for a simple traffic stop, or any offense.鈥�
The five Black officers are now fired and charged with murder and other crimes in the Jan. 10 death of Nichols, a 29-year-old skateboarder, FedEx worker and father to a 4-year-old boy.
From police brass and the district attorney鈥檚 office to the White House, officials said Nichols鈥� killing points to a need for bolder reforms that go beyond simply diversifying the ranks, changing use-of-force rules and encouraging citizens to file complaints.
鈥淭he world is watching us,鈥� Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said. 鈥淚f there is any silver lining to be drawn from this very dark cloud, it鈥檚 that perhaps this incident can open a broader conversation about the need for police reform.鈥�
President Joe Biden joined national civil rights leaders in similar calls to action.
鈥淭o deliver real change, we must have accountability when law enforcement officers violate their oaths, and we need to build lasting trust between law enforcement, the vast majority of whom wear the badge honorably, and the communities they are sworn to serve and protect,鈥� the president said.
But Memphis, whose 628,000 residents celebrate barbecue and blues music and lament being the place where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, has seen this before. The city took steps advocates called for in a 鈥淩eimagine Policing鈥� initiative in 2021, and mirrored a set of policy changes reformers want all departments to implement immediately, known as 鈥�8 Can鈥檛 Wait.鈥�
De-escalation training is now required. Officers are told to limit uses of force, exhaust all alternatives before resorting to deadly force and report all uses of force. Tennessee also took action: State law now requires officers to intervene to stop abuse and report excessive force by their colleagues.
Showing unusual transparency for a police department, the MPD now publishes accountability reports that include the race of people subjected to use of force each year. They show Black men and women were overwhelmingly targeted for rougher treatment in 2019, 2020 and 2021. They were subject to nearly 86% of the recorded uses of guns, batons, pepper spray, physical beatings and other force in 2021, the total nearly doubling that year to 1,700 cases.
Seven uses of force by Memphis police ended in death during these three years.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how much more cumulative Black death our community should have to pay to convince elected officials that the policing system isn鈥檛 broken 鈥� it鈥檚 working exactly as it was designed to, at the expense of Black life,鈥� said Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center, a Tennessee-based civil rights leadership training school.
The Nichols case 鈥� just one of the brutality cases to make national news this month 鈥� exposes an uncomfortable truth: More than two years since the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks touched off protests, policing reforms have not significantly reduced such killings.
States approved nearly 300 police reform bills after Floyd鈥檚 murder, creating civilian oversight of police, more anti-bias training, stricter use-of-force limits and alternatives to arrests in cases involving people with mental illnesses, according to a recent analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland.
Despite calls to 鈥渄efund the police,鈥� an Associated Press review of police funding nationwide found only modest cuts, driven largely by shrinking revenue related to the coronavirus pandemic. Budgets increased and more officers were hired for some large departments, including New York City鈥檚.
Still stuck in Congress is the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would prohibit racial profiling, ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, limit the transfer of military equipment to police departments, and make it easier to bring charges against offending officers. Biden said he told Nichols鈥� mother that he would be 鈥渕aking a case鈥� to Congress to pass the Floyd Act 鈥渢o get this under control.鈥�
The Rev. Al Sharpton said his eulogy at Nichols鈥� funeral on Wednesday will include a call for new laws. NAACP President Derrick Johnson also took Congress to task.
鈥淏y failing to write a piece of legislation, you鈥檙e writing another obituary,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭ell us what you鈥檙e going to do to honor Tyre Nichols. 鈥� We can name all the victims of police violence, but we can鈥檛 name a single law you have passed to address it.鈥�
Advocates want state and federal legislation because local changes vary widely in scope and effect and can be undone by a single election after years of grassroots activism. But some say strict regulations are just the start 鈥� and the video of Nichols鈥� agony proves it.
鈥淐hanging a rule doesn鈥檛 change a behavior,鈥� said Katie Ryan, chief of staff for Campaign Zero, a group of academics, policing experts and activists working to end police violence. 鈥淭he culture of a police department has to shift into actually implementing the policies, not just saying there鈥檚 a rule in place.鈥�
The five officers charged 鈥� Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith 鈥� were part of the so-called Scorpion unit. Scorpion stands for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods.
The Memphis police chief, Cerelyn 鈥淐J鈥� Davis, disbanded the unit on Saturday.
鈥淚t is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit,鈥� she said in a statement.
Prior to the move by Davis, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said it was clear that the officers involved in the attack on Nichols violated the department鈥檚 policies and training.
鈥淚 want to assure you we are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again,鈥� Strickland said in a statement. 鈥淲e are initiating an outside, independent review of the training, policies and operations of our specialized units.鈥�
The Memphis police union extended condolences to Nichols鈥� family, saying it 鈥渋s committed to the administration of justice and NEVER condones the mistreatment of ANY citizen nor ANY abuse of power.鈥� The statement also expressed faith that the justice system would reveal 鈥渢he totality of circumstances鈥� in the case.
Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, pushed back against the conclusion that policing must change. This was not 鈥渓egitimate police work or a traffic stop gone wrong,鈥� Yoes said. 鈥淭his is a criminal assault under the pretext of law.鈥�
Protesters turned out again Friday night after the city released the video footage. Turner, the Memphis pastor, called the images 鈥渇urther proof that our city鈥檚 and our nation鈥檚 criminal justice systems are in dire need of change.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like we鈥檙e short on concrete, reasonable recommendations,鈥� said the Rev. Earle Fisher, senior pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e short on is the political will and the commitment to making the structural changes.鈥�
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Associated Press reporter Noreen Nasir contributed from Memphis, Tennessee. Adrian Sainz also reported from Memphis. Aaron Morrison reported from New York, and Claudia Lauer from Philadelphia.
Aaron Morrison, Claudia Lauer And Adrian Sainz, The Associated Press
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