Memphis police quickly charged. Is it unusual?
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump on Friday applauded the Memphis police chief and county prosecutors for taking swift action against the five former officers charged with the murder of Tire Nichols, a 29-year-old black man.
“We’re looking at how quickly the district attorney brought charges against them in less than 20 days,” Crump said at a news conference. “We want to proclaim that this is the blueprint for the future any time officers, whether black or white, will be held accountable. You can’t tell us anymore that we have to wait six months to a year. “
Officers arrested Nichols during a traffic stop on January 7. He was hospitalized in critical condition and died on January 10. Federal investigators opened a civil rights investigation on January 18. The officers were fired on January 20 and charged with murder and other related crimes. Thursday.
“Remarkably fast and unusual”
Crump noted the discrepancy in how quickly charges were brought against black officers in this case, compared to the length of time that has passed in other police killings involving white officers, such as in the 2014 murder of 17-year-old black Laquan McDonald by a white Chicago police officer.
“In similar cases involving white officers, a lengthy investigation usually ensues before a decision is made on the charges,” said Jason Williams, assistant professor of justice studies at Montclair State University in the New Jersey. “So the immediate reaction these officers receive is commensurate with the African-American experience of navigating the criminal justice system.”
A Washington Post database of fatal police shootings since 2015 found that officers killed more than 1,000 people a year, including a disproportionate number of black Americans.
Information about subsequent liability is not “widely tracked,” said Jorge Camacho, policy director of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School in Connecticut. He called the charges against Nichols’ death “remarkably quick and unusual”, noting that the closest example would be the indictment of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin days after the murder of George Floyd. .
“Part of the speed of the process against these five officers has to do with both the availability of video evidence and the fact that Mr. Nichols is deceased,” Camacho said. In most cases of alleged police brutality, the victim does not die and the officer’s account “tends to carry more weight”, especially in the absence of video evidence.
Camacho warned that the accountability of Memphis officers alone is “insufficient” and called on the public to hold the department at large accountable as well.
Here’s a list of recent high-profile killings of black Americans by police and how long it took departments and prosecutors to take action — if any.
Daunte Wright
Daunte Wright, 20, was fatally shot by Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kimberly Potter on April 11, 2021. The city released a medical examiner’s report and video the following day. Potter and the police chief resigned on April 13. Potter was charged on April 14 and convicted of manslaughter in December.
Rayshard Brooks
Rayshard Brooks, 27, was fatally shot by Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe on June 12, 2020. The following day, the police chief resigned, Rolfe was fired and another officer involved was placed on administrative leave . Rolfe was later reinstated, and prosecutors announced in August that the two officers would no longer be charged.
George Floyd
George Floyd, 46, was killed by Minneapolis police officers during an arrest on May 25, 2020. Video of the incident quickly circulated online. The four officers involved were fired the following day and one of them, Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged on May 29. The other officers were charged a few days later. Chauvin was convicted of murder in April 2021. He also pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges in December. The other officers involved were convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights in February. Charged by the state, two officers pleaded guilty and one chose to let a judge decide his fate.
Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor, 26, was fatally shot by Louisville police in March 2020. The department fired one of the officers, Brett Hankison, in June. A state grand jury indicted Hankison in September on three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, but he was acquitted in 2022. Taylor was not considered the victim of those charges. The Justice Department indicted four of the officers in August and one pleaded guilty to some of the charges.
Freddie Gray
Freddie Gray, 25, was fatally injured by Baltimore police officers during an arrest on April 12, 2015. He died on April 19, and six officers were suspended that day. Prosecutors charged the officers on May 1. On May 21, a grand jury indicted the officers on most counts. The trial of one of the officers ended in a mistrial, three were acquitted and the charges against the others were dropped. In September 2017, the Department of Justice declined to press federal charges.
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