Rogue officers

Re “Obey officers” (Your Views, Feb. 3): I read with dismay the letter from Nancy Dempsey of Suffolk about the cruel, savage killing of driver Tyre Nichols of Memphis. The suggestion that Nichols did not obey officers’ commands or requests is clearly disproved by the video of this terrible incident.

As far as can be discerned, the five miscreant officers issued no commands to Nichols, even refusing to tell him why he was yanked from his car. What was there to “obey”? This was a savage beating of a bewildered young man at the hands of five sworn police officers who were determined to beat him as violently as they could. Nichols was a young man who led a peaceful life. Other professionals present after the deadly beating were almost as bad as the officers, allegedly providing inadequate service that they were trained to provide. Police departments across the country are guilty of allowing these rogue, psychologically incompetent officers to remain on their forces. We citizens must demand better.

Of course, obeying law-abiding police officers is the proper thing to do when interacting with them. However, this very simplistic solution, which is entirely unrelated to the circumstances shown in the video to all the world, has nothing to do with obeying officers. I hope that freedom-loving citizens with good intentions look at abominations such as this with a more critical, insightful eye. The behavior we witnessed is intolerable in a civilized society. And it must be eliminated.

— Robert J. Anderson, Hampton