What happened?
Memphis, Tenn., USA.
Memphis police officers beat a motorist in a traffic stop. Three days later, the motorist died. Video footage outraged the public.
* * *
Timeline
Jan 7
Shocking footage of police officers kicking and beating the motorist went viral.
Jan 8
Police claimed the motorist was stopped on suspicion of reckless driving.
Jan 10
The motorist, Tyre Nichols, 29 years old black man, died.
An Independent autopsy found he suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.”
Jan 18
The DOJ started a civil rights investigation.
Jan 20
Five officers, all Black, were fired and indicted on second-degree murder and other charges later in the week.
Jan 30
Memphis police disbanded the SCORPION unit tied to the deadly beating.
*SCORPION stands for “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods.”
My reflections
The Memphis police reacted swiftly to the incident with the quick firing of the officers – technically, a good move in terms of crisis management. However, a reactive response to a potential public crisis cannot uproot the plague as it’s not the root.
A proactive change to the police culture and policing mentality is what’s needed.
Reference
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64435109
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/29/us/tyre-nichols-protests-sunday/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/tyre-nichols-video-release-live-updates-rcna67992
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/29/memphis-officers-nichols/
About the “Security Incidents in 200/300 words Series.”
In an era where 10 minutes are called long term, 30 minutes feel like forever, and no one has the patience to read anything longer than 2 minutes, we try to summarize any incident in less than 300 or even 200 words – because who has time? – Flecher Feng, CPP, PSP, CFE
