As Memphis mourns Tyre Nichols, city seeks police accountability
Just three weeks ago, Tyre Nichols鈥� death appeared to match a pattern of police brutality: a young Black man beaten by officers during a traffic stop. But the response by authorities in Memphis, Tennessee, is where that pattern ended.听
After past allegations of officer brutality, police departments or local prosecutors have often dithered in response, provoking outrage from the community when more details are released. In Memphis, the officers involved have already all been fired and charged.
The body camera footage allowed the Memphis Police Department and the district attorney to hasten their investigations. Yesterday, a grand jury returned indictments 鈥� including second-degree murder, kidnapping, and assault 鈥� against the five officers, all of whom are Black. Tonight, after 6 p.m. Eastern time, footage of the incident will be publicly released.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onMemphis鈥� decisive response to the police killing of Tyre Nichols is evidence that, at least in some cases, calls for accountability might be taking hold.
In a recorded statement, Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn 鈥淐.J.鈥� Davis promised 鈥渁bsolute accountability for those responsible for Tyre鈥檚 death.鈥�
鈥淭his is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,鈥� she said.听
The police chief, district attorney, and head of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI) have united in condemning the violence. The United States Department of Justice has opened its own civil rights investigation.
Accountability seems to be moving faster than usual. Almost three years after the murder of George Floyd, some analysts say Memphis might be a sign that reforms adopted by many police departments are working 鈥� and perhaps affirming public confidence.听
鈥淭he very quick action, the firing and the charging, will have a positive effect on the community,鈥� says Sam Walker, an emeritus professor at the University of Nebraska who studies police accountability.听
But Memphis also shows the limits of after-the-fact accountability and the need for deeper change in police departments.听
鈥淲e are here to pursue truth and justice, realizing that we should not be here,鈥� said David B. Rausch, director of the TBI and a 30-year police officer, at a Thursday press conference. 鈥淪imply put, this shouldn鈥檛 have happened.鈥�
What happened
The incident began with a traffic stop.听
On Jan. 7, officers with the Memphis Police Department鈥檚 elite SCORPION unit (Street Crimes Operation To Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods) pulled over Mr. Nichols on suspicion of reckless driving, according to Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy. There was an 鈥渋nitial altercation鈥� between the officers and Mr. Nichols, he said, during which they used pepper spray. Mr. Nichols then fled, leading to a second altercation, reportedly just 100 yards from his parents鈥� home. This is when most of the violence occurred,听.
A lawyer representing the Nichols family said Mr. Nichols was beaten for three minutes, tased, and restrained. An ambulance later transported him to the hospital, after 鈥渟ome period of time of waiting around afterward鈥� by the officers, said Mr. Mulroy.听
The Nichols family shared a photo of their son in the hospital before his death, appearing swollen, bruised, and unconscious. The family has seen the police video and compares the treatment of their son to the 1991 beating of Rodney King.
The Department of Justice鈥檚 investigation is in partnership with the local FBI field office and joins existing inquiries from the district attorney and Memphis Police Department. The department听听for violating standards regarding excessive force, duty to render aid, and duty to intervene. The standard of duty to intervene was adopted by the Memphis Police Department after the death of Mr. Floyd to ensure officers are accountable to stop infractions by other officers.
Memphis鈥� quick response
Chief Davis has said other officers are also under investigation.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 striking how quickly they moved and how serious their actions were, both police chief and prosecution,鈥� says Professor Walker.
He contrasts the response in Memphis to the response in Louisville, Kentucky, after the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor. There, none of the officers wore body cameras and no officers were fired for three months.
Until 2020, a common response to complaints of police brutality was for police departments and unions to protect their officers, a practice commonly referred to as 鈥渃ircling the wagons.鈥�听
鈥淭he pattern that I would see is, at most, officers being put on administrative leave for a very long time, often with pay until an investigation was completed,鈥� says Christy Lopez, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center. 鈥淭he idea that they would be terminated very quickly is, in my experience, unusual.鈥澨�
At this point, it鈥檚 not clear whether the speed is a sign of stiffer accountability, a less aggressive police union, or just the incident鈥檚 sheer brutality, says Professor Lopez, who led the investigation into the police department in Ferguson, Missouri, after the 2014 killing of Michael Brown.听
In a case of police brutality, the first month is not always representative.听
The four officers who beat Mr. King were charged with felony assault within two weeks but acquitted a year later 鈥� though two were convicted on federal charges the next year. The acquittal so outraged the public that it sparked the Los Angeles riots, in which more than 60 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured.
鈥淭his case still has to go to trial,鈥� says Tracie Keesee, president and co-founder of the Center for Policing Equity. 鈥淪o you still have a ways on this one.鈥�
Clearly, though, authorities have tried to signal that there will be consequences. TBI Director Rausch has already described the incident as 鈥渃riminal.鈥� Having the FBI involved so early is also powerful, says Ms. Keesee. Thirty years ago, she says, it would鈥檝e taken months, if not longer.听
The speed may be a reflection of public demand. 鈥淭his is really an indication of how much more sophisticated communities have become,鈥� says Professor Lopez. 鈥淭hey want [the body camera footage], and they鈥檙e not afraid to ask for it.鈥�
And the city appears to be keenly aware of the potential for unrest when the video is released tonight. Firing and charging the officers before it was made public could be an attempt to quell potential violence.
Officials from Chief Davis to President Joe Biden have repeated that plea for peace. 鈥淰iolence is destructive and against the law,鈥� the president wrote. 鈥淚t has no place in peaceful protests seeking justice.鈥�
The challenge ahead
Chief Davis has climbed to the top of the Memphis Police Department as a reformer, but this case may test how deeply her department has changed.
Body cameras are intended to prevent something like this from happening by recording clear evidence of the incident. But the death of Mr. Nichols suggests that was not enough in this case.
鈥淭hat real-time accountability should be delivered by your own colleagues,鈥� says Professor Lopez. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just another layer to this tragedy: that it could have been prevented if officers there on the scene had stepped in.鈥�
Policing reforms often take more than a couple of years to implement 鈥� an effort complicated by a nationwide increase in violent crime since the pandemic. Violent crime in Memphis has risen significantly since 2016, .听
The city鈥檚 SCORPION units patrol high-crime areas as a more aggressive police response. Such units, says Professor Walker, have a legacy of problematic behavior, often developing their own culture separate from the rest of the department.
鈥淎ccountability after the fact is what you鈥檙e seeing right now,鈥� says Ms. Keesee.
It鈥檒l take longer to figure out what could鈥檝e stopped the atrocity from ever happening.
鈥淲e won鈥檛 know until we get further into this and probably ready for trial: What were [the officers] trained on? Have they been in trouble before, and if so, what was the outcome?鈥�
