Memphis attack

Re “Virginia reacts to Tyre Nichols video release: ‘We need reform and systemic change’ ” (Jan. 28): After watching the video released by the Memphis Police Department of the attack on Tyre Nichols, it appeared he was attacked by a gang of hoodlums. Those men do not have the right to be called “police officers.” No police officer I know would ever do what those men did.

Anyone with hoodlum tendencies should never be hired as a police officer. A properly run police department screens applicants very thoroughly to prevent those with unfit attitudes from getting into the department.

Citizens who would protest in the streets need to differentiate true police officers from hoodlums who, somehow, get hired by some less discriminating agencies. True police officers will protect your rights, and when an arrest is necessary, use proper techniques they are trained to use without injuring the arrestee.

News reports emphasize that Nichols is Black. Yes, that’s true, but each of his accused attackers were also Black. So, continuing to emphasize that the police attacked a “Black” man is unfair to the many police who are not racially prejudiced. Those who protest against police in general act without giving it much thought are wrong when they protest without separating the “hoodlums” from the “good guys.”

The police who are properly screened, trained and supervised are the heroes who you know will risk their own lives to save yours. They don’t deserve to be attacked or smeared with the same repulsiveness as those Memphis hoodlums. They’re us, your neighbors, community members who we hire to protect us all.

— Henry P. Henson, retired chief of police for the Norfolk Police Department, Norfolk