Diversity is Essential in Lowering Police Violence?
Mayor Eric Adams said black police officers charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols betrayed the goal of diversity.
By now, the name Tyre Nichols is synonymous with police brutality.
Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, was accused of reckless driving by Memphis police. Police body camera footage showed five black police officers dragging Nichols out of his vehicle, pepper spraying Nichols, and striking Nichols with a baton plus their fists and feet.
These five black police officers were members of a special unit called SCORPION. According to the Memphis Police Department, this special unit “patrolled in groups and at times used low-level traffic stops as a way to find violent criminals, drugs, or weapons.”
Nichols died in the hospital three days later.
The black officers involved were fired and charged with murder and other crimes, and SCORPION was disbanded.
It’s important to note that the Memphis Police Department is 58 percent black, and the city is 64 percent black. The Washington Post reported that the Memphis Police Department engaged in a decade-long recruitment effort to make their police force resemble the racial make-up of the city.