A System Designed to Protect & Serve the Public or Itself? Despite red flags, officers received glowing evaluations

By Alfonzo Porter and LaQuane Smith

For the African American community, the tragedy that has unfolded in the wake of the Tyre Nichols murder by Memphis police officers in January has implications that appear to extend well beyond the appalling scene of senseless brutality represented on global television.

The incident shattered the long-held hopes of many in the

African American community that the presence of Black police officers would somehow reduce the instances of savage assaults by police against Black people that we’ve witnessed around the nation for decades. As evidence surfaced that the Nichols case was not the first time that most of the officers had been involved in prior disciplinary action for misconduct, many African Americans were likely not surprised but rather