Memphis: An unarmed Black man is killed by police after being beaten by them on camera. The involved officers are dismissed. Criminal charges are swiftly brought against the negligent officers after a careful examination of the available evidence.
Charges, accountability, and an investigation.

As long as there are still deaths, this is frequently the best Black citizens can hope for. Academics and police reform activists who keep track of such deaths claim that since 2020, police have consistently killed about three people per day nationwide.

Tyre Nichols' fatal encounter with Memphis, Tennessee, police officers, which was captured on video and made public on Friday night, serves as a stark reminder that efforts to reform policing have fallen short in preventing new flashpoints in an uncontrollable epidemic of brutality.

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Nearly 32 years ago, calls for change were sparked by the brutal beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police. Since then, they have been repeated in an unbroken rhythm, with the deaths of Amadou Diallo in New York, Oscar Grant in Oakland, California, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and numerous others serving as interruptions.

The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 was so painful to witness that it sparked a national reckoning that included federal legislation proposed in his honour and displays of support from businesses and sports leagues. All fell short of the change in law enforcement culture that Black people in America have demanded — a culture that fosters a lack of fear, confidence in the police, and respect for one another.

Public safety is necessary, right? According to Jason Turner, senior pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, "We need law enforcement to fight pervasive crime. We also don't want to be brutalised by those who have sworn to protect and serve us over a routine traffic stop or any other infraction.

The five Black officers have been fired and are now facing charges of murder and other offences in connection with the death of Nichols, a 29-year-old skateboarder, FedEx employee, and father of a 4-year-old boy, on January 10.

From police brass to the district attorney's office to the White House, officials said Nichols' death highlights the need for more radical changes that go beyond merely diversifying the ranks, altering the use-of-force laws, and incentivizing people to file complaints.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said, "The world is watching us. The possibility that this incident will spark a wider discussion about the need for police reform is the only bright spot in this very gloomy picture, according to the author. In a similar call, President Joe Biden joined national civil rights leaders.

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The president stated that in order to bring about real change, we need to hold law enforcement accountable when they disobey their oaths and establish long-lasting trust between them and the communities they are sworn to serve and protect.

However, this has happened before in Memphis, a city of 628,000 people known for its blues music and barbecue as well as for being the site of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s murder. In 2021, the city implemented the "Reimagine Policing" initiative's recommendations and the "8 Can't Wait" reforms that reformers want to see implemented immediately across all departments.

Training in de-escalation is now necessary. Officers are instructed to use force sparingly, explore all options before using lethal force, and document all instances of use of force. Tennessee also took action: Under new state law, law enforcement must step in to stop abuse and report when their fellow officers use excessive force.

The MPD now publishes accountability reports that include the race of people who are subjected to use of force each year, displaying unusual transparency for a police department. They reveal that in 2019, 2020, and 2021, Black men and women were disproportionately targeted for harsher treatment. They were the target of almost 86 percent of all documented instances of the use of firearms, batons, pepper spray, physical assault, and other forms of force in 2021, with the overall number of incidents nearly tripling to 1,700.

During these three years, seven instances of police force in Memphis resulted in fatalities.

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center, a Tennessee-based civil rights leadership training school, said: "I don't know how much more cumulative Black death our community should have to pay to convince elected officials that the policing system isn't broken it's working exactly as it was designed to, at the expense of Black life.

One of many cases of police brutality to make national headlines this month, the Nichols case reveals an unsettling fact: more than two years after the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks sparked demonstrations, policing reforms have not significantly decreased such killings.

According to a recent analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland, states approved nearly 300 police reform bills after Floyd's murder, establishing civilian oversight of police, more anti-bias training, stricter use-of-force limits, and alternatives to arrests in cases involving people with mental illnesses.

Despite calls to "defund the police," an analysis of police funding nationwide by the Associated Press found only modest reductions, primarily due to declining revenue associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Some large departments, like the one in New York City, saw an increase in budgets and the hiring of more officers.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would forbid racial profiling, outlaw chokeholds and no-knock warrants, restrict the flow of military hardware to police departments, and make it simpler to file charges against infraction-committing officers, is still stalled in Congress. In order to "get this under control," Biden claimed he informed Nichols' mother that he would be "making a case" to Congress for the Floyd Act to be passed.

At Nichols' funeral on Wednesday, the Rev. Al Sharpton said his eulogy would include a call for new legislation. Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP, criticised Congress as well.

Johnson said, "By not writing a piece of legislation, you're writing another obituary." "Explain to us how you intend to pay tribute to Tyre Nichols. … We can list every victim of police brutality, but we are unable to list any laws that you have passed to address it.

Advocates want state and federal legislation because local changes can be reversed by a single election after years of grassroots activism and differ greatly in scope and effect. But some contend that strict regulations are only the beginning, and the video of Nichols' suffering supports this.

Katie Ryan, the chief of staff for Campaign Zero, a group of academics, policing experts, and activists working to end police violence, said that changing a rule does not change a behaviour. A police department's culture needs to change so that following the rules actually happens rather than just saying they are there.

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith, the five officers accused, were members of the so-called Scorpion unit. Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods is what Scorpion stands for. Cerelyn "CJ" Davis, the police chief in Memphis, abolished the unit on Saturday. In a statement, she stated that "it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit."

Jim Strickland, the mayor of Memphis, stated that it was evident that the officers involved in the attack on Nichols had broken departmental rules and procedures prior to Davis' action.

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In a statement, Strickland said, "I want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to stop this from happening again. "We are starting a review of the operations, policies, and instruction of our specialised units from the outside, independently."

With the statement that it "is committed to the administration of justice and NEVER condones the mistreatment of ANY citizen or ANY abuse of power," the Memphis police union expressed its condolences to Nichols' family. The declaration also affirmed confidence that "the totality of circumstances" in the case would be made known by the legal system.

The Fraternal Order of Police's national president, Patrick Yoes, disagreed with the notion that policing needs to change. According to Yoes, this was not "legitimate police work or a traffic stop gone wrong." "This is a criminal assault disguised as a legal proceeding."

protesters showed up once more After the city made the video footage public on Friday night. The images were described as "further proof that our city's and our country's criminal justice systems are in dire need of change" by Turner, a Memphis pastor.

The senior pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, the Rev. Earle Fisher, said, "It's not like we're short on specific, reasonable recommendations. We lack the political will and dedication necessary to implement the necessary structural changes.