Saving the Next Tyre Nichols

Marc Ash / Reader Supported News
Saving the Next Tyre Nichols Tuesday, January 31, 2023: A memorial to Tyre Nichols, slain by police in Memphis, Tennessee. (photo: NBC News)

Tyre Nichols is gone but not yet forgotten. In his memory we should dedicate our efforts to doing everything we can to prevent more such tragedies. It won’t be easy but it is necessary.

What would prevent such barbarism under color of law going forward? The short answer is that there is no quick fix. Progress is a process and determination over time is the key. Things that will help:

Police Body Cameras

The police officers who attacked Tyre Nichols were remarkably Brazen in their actions, apparently believing that their status as Scorpion Unit members somehow shielded them from oversight. One thing that might give them reason to believe that would be prior experience. A dead giveaway that they had used some of those tactics before was the practiced and coordinated manner in which they acted. For them it was routine. Their disregard for the fact that their actions were being recorded would seem to indicate that they had a reasonable degree of confidence that their actions were authorized. The body cameras along with a critically important street surveillance camera however ultimately proved their undoing.

Many have argued that the body cameras did nothing to save Tyre Nichols. That’s true but shortsighted. While the video images of Tyre Nichols murder cannot bring him back the criminal proceedings those images have launched send a clear signal to other officers, “crime demands punishment.” It creates a much greater incentive not just for the officers themselves but for the departments that empower them to find a lawful way to keep the peace.

While police body cameras are seeing far greater use they are far from universal. The recent death of a protester near Atlanta protesting the new proposed sprawling police training facility dubbed, “Cop City” by protesters clearly underscores the legal complications that can arise when force is used by police and the events are not recorded.

What is clear is that protester, Manuel Esteban Paez Terán was shot and killed by police. The circumstances under which the shooting occurred are in dispute. There were no police body cameras. The only record therefore are the statements of the shooters, the police themselves. While there is a tendency to want to trust the word of police officers the recent events in Memphis are a stark reminder that they often have a strong incentive to modify their version of events to shield themselves from legal exposure.

The first American police department to use body cameras was Rialto, California. The results were stunning, “The department saw an 88 percent decline in complaints against officers and use-of-force incidents plumetted 60 percent.” The impact police body cameras on public safety is stark. Increasing their use and making the images available to the public in a routine and transparent manner is cornerstone to police reform.

Federal Prosecution

One of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting police officers, under any circumstances is the reluctance state and local officials to file charges, even when the evidence clearly justifies doing so. While video evidence is certainly forcing the hand of local prosecutors in some high profile cases the reticence and its deep-seated origins remain a stubborn limitation.

Federal prosecution, typically under civil rights statutes is often the only way to pursue justice. While federal prosecution can be an effective remedy it is also susceptible to political influence. With each new presidential administration comes new leadership at the Department of Justice and often a whole new perspective on civil rights enforcement. In totality however the DoJ has historically been slow and reluctant to overstep local authority. Often taking the far safer route of acting only after state’s prosecutors have filed charges.

Robust dependable federal prosecution when clear evidence exists and local charges are not forthcoming would also have a dramatic impact on police reform and public safety.

Abolishing Lethal Force as a Remedy to Flight

It would be impossible to accurately estimate how many people have been killed by police in America for literally doing nothing more than running away from them. That is what made the police in the Memphis incident so angry, why they beat Tyre Nichols so savagely he ran from them and that act produced a in them a level of rage they could not control, a homicidal rage.

There is no law anywhere in the United States that authorizes police to use deadly force a a remedy to flight. Still it is one of the most dangerous decisions a person can make when confronted by law enforcement. Tyre Nichols, Daunte Wright, Walter Scott, Jessica Hernandez, Jayland Walker the list goes on and on and on. It is an essential component of a vast majority of police use of lethal force cases.

What if Tyre Nichols or George Floyd had just walked away? To American police the idea of someone they define as a suspect simply walking away is anathema, it runs contrary to all of their training and often their personal beliefs. But what if Tyre Nichols had in fact been allowed to walk or run away? Would he, the police officers involved in his death and the entire city of Memphis be in a better or worse place today?

The police knew who he was just as well as the police know or might easily know who most of the people they are in contact with are. If deescalation actually matters to police departments then making decisions to allow individuals who appear to be panicking to simply depart. It is not the end of the world, police in many other countries routinely make the decision to do so all the time and essentially knowing the identity of the individual makes locating them later a fairly simple matter.

Nothing short of weapon wielding escalates a police encounter more predictably or dangerously than an attempt to flee. Deescalation needs to contemplate flight as a manageable occurrence rather than a life and death process.

Progress on police reform is absolutely being made but a lot more work needs to be done. Let’s do it for Tyre Nichols, Daunte Wright, Walter Scott, Jessica Hernandez, Jayland Walker, so many more and those still to come.



Marc Ash is the founder and former Executive Director of Truthout, and is now founder and Editor of Reader Supported News.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

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