A retired police officer called the Memphis beating. “A street crime that happened among people in uniform.” Another said the incident should not have escalated beyond the traffic stop.
It was the result of a series of mistakes. And aggressive tactics among officers captured on video punching. Kicking and hitting Tyre Nichols with a baton after a traffic stop in Memphis. Tennessee this month, three retired police officers said.
Ed Davis, Boston’s police commissioner from 2006 to 2013, told TTN News on Saturday. That he was “sickened” by the Jan. 7 video of Nichols’ beating by Memphis police. “It just doesn’t make sense to me. That any police department in this country can do the kind of punishment. That we’ve seen — street justice,” Davis said. “Was it a problem in the United States? Yes it was. Is it still a problem in place? Obviously, we see it in Memphis.”
He continued: “When you see something like this, it’s a throwback to the old police system.”
“The whole incident should not be seen as a police operation. It was a street crime that happened among people in uniform.”
‘Police get angry when people resist’
Nichols, a 29-year-old black man who was an amateur photographer and skateboarder. Was hospitalized in critical condition and died three days after the traffic stop.
Memphis authorities on Friday released video. From many vantage points showing the aftermath of the traffic stop. Three videos, from a police body camera and a police surveillance camera mounted.
They caught him screaming for his mother and saying he was trying to get home. His mother said she was only 80 yards from her home when her son screamed for help. Five Memphis police officers were fired and charged with second-degree murder. And other crimes, including aggravated assault and kidnapping. David Thomas, professor of forensic studies. At Florida Gulf Coast University, has worked as a police officer in Michigan. And Florida for 20 years. . She said the videos made her cry and made her think about her children. And grandchildren who are black. And a seemingly routine shutdown that spirals out of control.
Thomas noted, yet, that all the police officers charged were also black.
“This is about policing culture. It’s not about race,” he said.
Georgetown law professor and TTN News legal analyst Paul Butler appeared.
“One of the ironies of this video is that if these officers weren’t wearing uniforms and badges. What happened to Mr. Nichols could have happened to them. That doesn’t mean they aren’t as biased as other officers. Statistically, black men and women are more likely than Black and Latinx officers. face the same threats from white officers as they do from white officers,” he said.
Butler added: “It’s important that police departments. Look like the communities they are supposed to protect and serve. It’s a necessary condition, but it’s not a enough condition of equal justice policing.” Thomas said heightened emotions may have led to Nichols’ heightened emotions for officers.
“The police get angry when people resist. When that anger turns into uncontrollable rage, that’s the end result you’ve seen.”
When policing began in the late 1970s, it was not uncommon for.
“Their job, they believed because you were dishonoring the badge. In some agencies, that history is history, and nobody talks about it,” he said. “There are policies that prohibit things, then there are unwritten policies. That happen and everyone knows about them. If supervisors don’t check it, the unwritten activity, which goes unreported.
Pa Sadhana principles are rare nationally
According to police experts, the policy of foot chase by officers is rare.
Last year, police in Chicago limited the circumstances under. Which police officers would be allowed to pursue suspects fleeing from them. The policy change comes more than a year after two foot pursuits ended. With officers fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man.
According to a June statement from the department, the policy update. Which provides clear guidelines for when officers can pursue a suspect. Also strengthens the responsibilities of supervisors.
