Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on what you may have missed from [un]Divided this week.
Tyre Nichols case
A major story that broke while I was on vacation was the release of video showing the police killing of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols in Memphis, who was beat to death after fleeing on foot from a traffic stop. Five Memphis police officers have been charged with second-degree murder, official misconduct, aggravated kidnapping, official oppression and aggravated assault.
There seems to be universal agreement that the video shows a brutal disregard for human life, far outside the realm of any reasonable or necessary force.
Here is what we know about the officers:
All five officers charged in the case are black – a detail not highlighted prominently in early reporting on the story. Now, I tend to think there is a general overemphasis on race in most stories involving police use of force. Every time a white officer uses force against a person of the color, race is the default central theme of coverage. The prevailing narrative seems to be that if a white officer uses excessive force, it must be a result of racism – without exception or question.
The racism narrative doesn't work in the Memphis case, although that didn't stop a few outlets from trying...
Absent a legitimate argument about race, there are other narratives taking shape.
Several reports indicate that at least two of the officers were brought onto the Memphis Police Department under loosened hiring standards.
According to the New York Post, Memphis PD relaxed hiring standards in 2018, lowering necessary work experience and educational requirements. The department again lowered its standards in 2022, forgoing a timed physical ability test and cutting the number of required college credit hours.
From The Post:
Loosening the required qualifications however means that the department is ultimately getting “less desirable” job candidates, Mike Alcazar, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired NYPD detective, told The Post.
“They’re desperate. They want police officers,” Alcazar said. “They’re going through it, they check off some boxes, saying, ‘Ok, they’re good enough, get them on.”
With police departments across the country facing staffing shortages, it brings up an important conversation for us locally. Are we setting standards too low for people who are entrusted with so much power? This is a theme we'll discuss on the show tomorrow.
Now certainly, lack of a college degree or physical aptitude doesn't make someone a killer. There is much more at play in this story than hiring standards (if that factored into Tyre's death at all).
Since the media can’t focus as readily on the race element, I’m hopeful we can actually have a productive dialogue. Unlike this weekend's Antifa protest in Seattle, where they somehow turned the tragedy into a march against Amazon.
Co-opt much?
If you watch one thing from [un]Divided this week…
…make it the Wednesday interview with Homeland Security Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer.
In addition to discussing the very real threat of fentanyl coming into our communities from Mexico, it was interesting to hear some of the other types of crimes his agents are investigating (for instance, large retail and catalytic converter theft rings).
While we know phones can expose our kids to all sorts of scary stuff, I was shocked to learn about the “sextortion” cases his office is encountering. Sextortion is when an online predator, usually posing as a young person, convinces a teen to send compromising photos and then threatens to send those photos to others if the child doesn't give into their demands. In one case, victims were convinced to carve their abuser's username into their arm. In other cases, kids have even been convinced to take their own lives. Horrible stuff. Anyone with kids in their life should take a few minutes to head his warnings and share.
You can watch our interview on the Monday episode.
Housekeeping
I enjoyed a few days off with family and friends thanks to my awesome bosses (you) – and I said “yes” to the dress!
In case you’re curious, here is a picture of it...
:)
Thank you for your commitment to giving common sense a comeback! See you on the show tomorrow. Have a great week.
