Police training experts who reviewed the videos of the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, said that they believed there was no justification for the actions of the police officers involved. These officers have been charged with crimes including second-degree murder in Nichols’ death. The footage, which is almost an hour long and comes from both police body cameras and street cameras, shows officers beating, kicking, and using a baton against Nichols after he fled a traffic stop. The experts stated that the officers’ actions were not in line with the proper protocol for handling a suspect who is fleeing or resisting arrest. They further added that the use of excessive force and violence in this situation was completely unjustified.
According to Obayashi, a police training expert, the footage of the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis is worse than the Rodney King case. He added that in police training, officers are repeatedly reminded to be aware of their physical surroundings, but the same stress should be placed on awareness of their own emotions. If officers’ tempers run high, they are bound to make mistakes. In the Nichols confrontation, it is possible the officers felt disrespected when their directions weren’t followed, he said. Obayashi is also a deputy sheriff and policy adviser in the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office in California. He further added that officers should be trained to handle situations where a suspect does not follow their directions, without resorting to excessive force or violence.
Obayashi, a police training expert, said that the incident involving the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis appears to be a case of “classic contempt of cop,” in which officers take revenge on an individual for not following their directions. Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, an organization that studies the improvement of policing, also commented on the incident. He said that the officers’ behavior in the incident fell short in multiple ways. He added that in modern policing, officers are usually trained to communicate clearly with an individual and respond proportionally to their actions. However, in this incident, the officers neither communicated clearly nor responded proportionally, Wexler said.
Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, called the incident “the definition of excessive force.” He said that Nichols did not present a danger that matched the force the officers used, beyond appearing not to want to be arrested. Additionally, even when Nichols was lying on the ground, none of the officers attempted to help him, which Wexler said was a violation of their duty to render aid. These actions by the officers shows the clear breach of use of excessive force, and violation of basic human rights and duty of care towards the individual.
