Page 2 - aruba-today-20230130

A2 UP FRONT
Monday 30 January 2023

Tyre Nichols case revives calls for change in police culture

By Aaron Morrison, Claudia Memphis, Tennessee, re- legislation proposed in his
Lauer ad Adrian Sainz corded in video made name and shows of soli-
Associated Press public Friday night, is a glar- darity by corporations and
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — An ing reminder that efforts to sports leagues. All fell short
unarmed Black man dies reform policing have failed of the shift in law enforce-
after a videotaped beat- to prevent more flashpoints ment culture Black people
ing by police. The officers in an intractable epidemic in America have called for
involved are fired. After of brutality. — a culture that promotes
a thorough review of the Nearly 32 years ago, Rod- freedom from fear, trust in
evidence, criminal charges ney King’s savage beating police and mutual respect.
are swiftly filed against the by police in Los Angeles The five Black officers are
offending officers. prompted heartfelt calls now fired and charged with
Investigation, accountabil- for change. They’ve been murder and other crimes in
ity and charges. repeated in a ceaseless the Jan. 10 death of Nich-
This is often the most Black rhythm ever since, punc- ols, a 29-year-old skate-
citizens can hope for as tuated by the deaths of boarder, FedEx worker and Members of the Memphis Police Department work a crime
the deaths continue. Na- Amadou Diallo in New father to a 4-year-old boy. scene in Memphis, Tenn., Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. Police video of
tionwide, police have killed York, Oscar Grant in Oak- From police brass and the the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols by officers in Memphis, Tenn.
roughly three people per land, California, Michael district attorney’s office to is hard to watch. The images are a glaring reminder of repeated
failures of efforts to prevent such flashpoints of police brutality.
day consistently since 2020, Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the White House, officials (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
according to academ- and so many others. said Nichols’ killing points to
ics and advocates for po- George Floyd’s murder in a need for bolder reforms complaints. should have to pay to
lice reform who track such Minneapolis in 2020 was so that go beyond simply di- President Joe Biden joined convince elected officials
deaths. agonizing to watch, it sum- versifying the ranks, chang- national civil rights leaders that the policing system
Tyre Nichols’ fatal encoun- moned a national reckon- ing use-of-force rules and in similar calls to action. isn’t broken — it’s work-
ter with police officers in ing that featured infederal encouraging citizens to file But Memphis, whose ing exactly as it was de-
628,000 residents celebrate signed to, at the expense
barbecue and blues mu- of Black life,” said Ash-Lee
sic and lament being the Woodard Henderson, co-
place where the Rev. Mar- executive director of the
tin Luther King Jr. was as- Highlander Research and
sassinated, has seen this Education Center, a Ten-
before. The city took steps nessee-based civil rights
advocates called for in a leadership training school.
De-escalation training is The Nichols case — just
now required. Officers are one of the brutality cases
told to limit uses of force, to make national news this
exhaust all alternatives month — exposes an un-
before resorting to deadly comfortable truth: More
force and report all uses of than two years since the
force. Tennessee also took deaths of Floyd, Breonna
action: State law now re- Taylor and Rayshard Brooks
quires officers to intervene touched off protests, polic-
to stop abuse and report ing reforms have not sig-
excessive force by their nificantly reduced such kill-
colleagues. ings.
Showing unusual transpar- States approved nearly
ency for a police depart- 300 police reform bills after
ment, the MPD now pub- Floyd’s murder, creating
lishes accountability re- civilian oversight of police,
ports that include the race more anti-bias training,
of people subjected to use stricter use-of-force limits
of force each year. They and alternatives to arrests
show Black men and wom- in cases involving people
en were overwhelmingly with mental illnesses, ac-
targeted for rougher treat- cording to a recent analy-
ment in 2019, 2020 and sis by the Howard Center
2021. They were subject to for Investigative Journalism
nearly 86% of the recorded at the University of Mary-
uses of guns, batons, pep- land.
per spray, physical beat- Despite calls to “defund
ings and other force in the police,” an Associated
2021, the total nearly dou- Press review of police fund-
bling that year to 1,700 ing nationwide found only
cases. modest cuts, driven largely
Seven uses of force by by shrinking revenue relat-
Memphis police ended in ed to the coronavirus pan-
death during these three demic. Budgets increased
years. and more officers were
“I don’t know how much hired for some large de-
more cumulative Black partments, including New
death our community York City’s.q