MEMPHIS POLICE CHIEF CERELYN DAVIS UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT

BY AJ WOODSON

Cerelyn “CJ” Daviswho was sworn in as Memphis’ first Black female police chief in June 2021 - understood the assignment, renowned civil-rights attorney Ben Crump called her actions a “blueprint” for justice. Chief Davis immediately acknowledged the firing of the officers involved and describes the events surrounding Nichols’

Time To Abolish The Criminal Injustice System

“My name is Ronald E. Hampton, retired D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer, and former Executive Director of the National Black Police Association. As the Convener of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century’s Police Justice and Accountability Task Force, I am facilitating a national and international conversation on the urgent need to radically restructure the concept and practice of public safety and law enforcement with a group of police and criminal justice reform advocates, scholars, former police and corrections officers. The current destructive, death-dealing system that is suppressing, oppressing, brutalizing, and killing Black people must be abolished.

“I was not at all surprised, shocked, or blindsided by the actions of the Black police officers in Memphis who taunted, humiliated and beat Tyre Nichols to death, allegedly for driving “recklessly.” The behavior of these officers and others on the scene, who were supposed to “serve and protect” the community is a raw, naked manifestation of the systemic and internalized racism within policing which is a mirror reflection of other institutions in our society

“In addition, this unconscionable incident should cause us to examine the idea that just having Black police officers in the ranks of police departments in this country will prevent or reduce police brutality and misconduct in the Black community. This is obviously not the case. I say what’s needed is, not “reform,” but a complete restructuring of a corrupt culture and system of policing in America. In the interim, what I do think is important is connecting with Black police officers within police departments to create a network of socially conscious Black officers who will counter the racist blue culture by fighting for restructuring from the inside.

“We owe it to the family of Tyre Nichols and all the families that have been traumatized by the loss of loved ones at the hands of killer cops to continue the struggle to abolish the existing racist, corrupt system. This is the mission we will take up at the forthcoming State of the Black World Conference from April 19-23, in Baltimore, during our sessions on reimagining public safety and law enforcement. We are determined to contribute to the struggle for a new paradigm of public safety and law enforcement to really serve and protect Black people!”

About The Author: Ronald E. Hampton is a retired D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer, the former Executive Director of the National Black Police Association and the Convener of the IBW21 Police Justice and Accountability Task Force death as “heinous, reckless, and inhumane.”

“Aside from being your chief of police, I am a citizen of this community, we share; I am a mother, I am a caring human being who wants the best for all of us; this is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless, and inhumane; and in the vein of transparency when the video is released in the coming days, you will see this for yourselves,” she shared in a statement.

Tyre Nichols was a 29-year-old Black man with a four-year-old son who worked for FedEx, and was an amateur photographer with a photography website. He was beaten by Memphis police officers for roughly three minutes on the evening of January 7th, after he was stopped for what the police initially said was reckless driving. The stop escalated into a violent confrontation that ended with Mr. Nichols hospitalized in critical condition. Three days later, he died.

Five police officers, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean, have all been fired and charged with second-degree murder on Jan 26 with various felonies, including second-degree murder. On Jan. 27, the city of Memphis released footage after pressure from Nichols’ family shows officers holding him down and repeatedly punching, kicking and striking him with a baton as he begs them to stop and screamed for his mother.

A sixth officer Preston Hemphill who is white, had been suspended as he was investigated for his role in the arrest of Nichol, was fired on Feb. 3, Hemphill “violated multiple departmental policies,” including on “personal conduct,” “truthfulness” and regulations on Taser gun use, the department said in a statement. On body camera footage from the initial stop, Hemphill is heard saying that he used a stun gun against Nichols and declaring, “I hope they stomp his ass.”

One other officer has been suspended, but has not been identified. Also, two sheriff’s deputies have been taken off duty, and three Fire Department employees have been fired. Two of the three Fire Department employees have also had licenses temporarily suspended by the Tennessee Emergency Medical Services Board.

Chief Davis has champion of police reform for years. In 2020, as chief of the Durham Police Department in North Carolina, she testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on the use of force by police, condemning the murder of George Floyd and addressing the “systemic shortcomings and oftentimes failures of our law-enforcement and criminal-justice systems.”