NICHOLS CASE REVIVES CALLS FOR CHANGE

Tyre Nichols’ 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.

From police brass and the district attorney’s office to the White House, officials said Nichols’ killing points to a need for bolder reforms that go beyond simply diversifying the ranks, changing useof-force rules and encouraging citizens to file complaints.

Memphis took steps advocates called for in a ‘Reimagine Policing’ initiative in 2021, and mirrored a set of policy changes reformers want all departments to implement immediately, known as ‘8 Can’t Wait’. 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 Memphis Police Department 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 per cent 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.