We Did all the "Right" Things to Prevent a Police Killing...now what?
lelandlong.substack.com
Cerelyn Davis spent her entire life in Law Enforcement:
She joined the Atlanta Police dept. in 1986, rising to Deputy Chief
Chief of Police in Durhan, N.C., in 2017
After the murder of George Floyd, she went on national television demanding sweeping changes.
In 2021, she became police chief in Memphis, TN.
She inherited a mess with annual homicides climbing.
She assessed the situation and said we must be “tough on tough” people.
Formed the Scorpion (Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace) strike force with 40 officers. She then deployed them to the worst crime areas.
Crime metrics start to move down, but there are issues in the community about the units.
Fourteen months later, one of the Scorpian teams beat up a motorist, and he died three days later. But, unlike similar situations in other cities, she acted quickly.
You fire the five officers immediately and blame it on a “failing of humanity.”
You tell the public that the video is brutal and then release it, even before any of the fired officers are allowed to see it - preempts any statements they might have wanted to give.
You then disband the Scorpion units without a replacement plan to address Memphis's horrific crime stats.
What didn’t work?
A police chief that looked like the community she served.
Special Units that specifically were charged to lower crime rates in hotspots - if you measure slightly falling crime stats only, you might argue this point. The people in the community might have a different view.
Diversity of the police force; the community is 65% African-American, and the police force is 58%. The specific team of five charged with killing this victim was entirely black.
Remember that entrance requirements were lowered to ensure a more diverse police force and meet unfulfilled positions - two of the officers in this team were a result of that policy.
Transparency - the Memphis police has a dashboard on the web that tracks all officer acts of violence and complaints with personnel actions taken - well done.
Money - More Police Funding per Capita than 65% of departments in cities over 250K. https://policescorecard.org/tn/police-department/memphis
How about all of the equipment we have mandated to reduce police violence?
Cameras? The five policemen knew they were wearing them, which didn’t make a difference. But, unfortunately, one of the cameras fell off during the incident!
Pepper Spray - based on the video, it appeared that the officers received more of the spray than the victim.
Stun Gun - only one prong hits the victim, and it quickly falls out.
Five trained policemen couldn’t subdue one young man - he even got away at one point!
Reducing police pensions, poor working conditions, and pay cuts forced a lot of veterans to retire. They were replaced with less experienced officers, and even the elite teams (Scorpions) were staffed with police early in their careers. So where were the wiser veterans?
How are you going to fix the police in our major cities? All the things you promised me would work, did NOT. I am a bit disillusioned…you seemed so sure.
Wall Street Journal, 02012023, Page A13, William A. Galston
We Did all the "Right" Things to Prevent a Police Killing...now what?
We Did all the "Right" Things to Prevent a Police Killing...now what?
We Did all the "Right" Things to Prevent a Police Killing...now what?
Cerelyn Davis spent her entire life in Law Enforcement:
She joined the Atlanta Police dept. in 1986, rising to Deputy Chief
Chief of Police in Durhan, N.C., in 2017
After the murder of George Floyd, she went on national television demanding sweeping changes.
In 2021, she became police chief in Memphis, TN.
She inherited a mess with annual homicides climbing.
She assessed the situation and said we must be “tough on tough” people.
Formed the Scorpion (Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace) strike force with 40 officers. She then deployed them to the worst crime areas.
Crime metrics start to move down, but there are issues in the community about the units.
Fourteen months later, one of the Scorpian teams beat up a motorist, and he died three days later. But, unlike similar situations in other cities, she acted quickly.
You fire the five officers immediately and blame it on a “failing of humanity.”
You tell the public that the video is brutal and then release it, even before any of the fired officers are allowed to see it - preempts any statements they might have wanted to give.
You then disband the Scorpion units without a replacement plan to address Memphis's horrific crime stats.
What didn’t work?
A police chief that looked like the community she served.
Special Units that specifically were charged to lower crime rates in hotspots - if you measure slightly falling crime stats only, you might argue this point. The people in the community might have a different view.
Diversity of the police force; the community is 65% African-American, and the police force is 58%. The specific team of five charged with killing this victim was entirely black.
Remember that entrance requirements were lowered to ensure a more diverse police force and meet unfulfilled positions - two of the officers in this team were a result of that policy.
Transparency - the Memphis police has a dashboard on the web that tracks all officer acts of violence and complaints with personnel actions taken - well done.
Money - More Police Funding per Capita than 65% of departments in cities over 250K. https://policescorecard.org/tn/police-department/memphis
How about all of the equipment we have mandated to reduce police violence?
Cameras? The five policemen knew they were wearing them, which didn’t make a difference. But, unfortunately, one of the cameras fell off during the incident!
Pepper Spray - based on the video, it appeared that the officers received more of the spray than the victim.
Stun Gun - only one prong hits the victim, and it quickly falls out.
Five trained policemen couldn’t subdue one young man - he even got away at one point!
Reducing police pensions, poor working conditions, and pay cuts forced a lot of veterans to retire. They were replaced with less experienced officers, and even the elite teams (Scorpions) were staffed with police early in their careers. So where were the wiser veterans?
How are you going to fix the police in our major cities? All the things you promised me would work, did NOT. I am a bit disillusioned…you seemed so sure.
Wall Street Journal, 02012023, Page A13, William A. Galston
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