“For some reason they thought that they could get away with it.” The killing of Tyre Nichols has shaken up all of America, and put police reform back on the agenda
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThe speed and certainty with which the authorities in Memphis acted stands in contrast to previous high-profile police killings. That charges were brought before the video was released may have helped to mute protests, by delivering the beginnings of justice. That is owed at least in part to Steve Mulroy, the Shelby county district attorney, a progressive Democrat who was elected last year, defeating a hardline Republican incumbent.
According to Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor who has led several lawsuits against police departments, even in the most troubled police departments, the vast majority of officers are never accused of being violent. A minority—perhaps 5% to 10%—account for almost all complaints, and indeed for a huge share of money paid to victims of police misconduct by cities after lawsuits.
At the level of political leadership, it is costly to hold a bad officer to account. If a police officer is fired, or worse, convicted of brutality, then the risk is that hundreds of previous arrests will suddenly be questioned. In the short run, that means huge negative publicity, as well as potential lawsuits. Real criminals who were in fact rightly arrested may go free.
That culture in turn filters down to beat officers. Many police officers believe that violence is necessary to prevent crime. But even if cops are disgusted by their colleagues’ actions, they fear personal consequences if they blow the whistle. Instead, cops who want to avoid brutality tend to choose to stay away from those units which have to use force most often.
A sad irony is that cities with the most ingrained culture of bad policing tend to suffer the most crime. In Memphis, according to data from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, though police arrest tens of thousands of people, just 39% of murders in 2021 were cleared. In 2020, according todata, the Memphis metropolitan area had the highest murder rate of any large city in America. Just as a lack of accountability leads bad cops to commit violence, aeventually leads to more murders.
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