Monday, January 30, 2023

Memphis Shooting a Case of: Be Careful What You Ask For

by Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

The progressive left commies have been demanding lower standards, and the defunding of the police. The result? Memphis.

According to PJ Media, "Out of the five officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols, NBC News reports that two had been members of the force for two years, and none of them had more than six years on the job. Demetrius Haley joined the department in August 2020. A former corrections officer, Haley was accused in a 2016 lawsuit of being one of two officers who beat an inmate unconscious. The suit was dismissed in 2018 after a court found that the inmate had not properly served one of the officers involved with a summons. Tadarrius Bean also became a member of the force in August 2020. His previous experience included working for AT&T and a job in fast food. Bean studied criminal justice and law at the University of Mississippi from 2016 through 2020. He also interned with the campus police. His name appeared on the 2020 commencement describing him as earning a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice."

The "recent" recruits, as PJ Media goes on to explain, came on board after a 2018 decision that the Memphis Police Department would change its recruiting standards, reducing the overall requirements due to a loss of personnel due to criticisms of the police departments in the United States.  

"By 2021, in the wake of the social unrest following the George Floyd incident, the Memphis Police Department was hurting for recruits. In February of 2022, the state legislature had a bill before it to remove the requirement that officers live in Memphis. They would only need to live in Shelby County. The department also offered a “$15,000 sign-on bonus, $10,000 in relocation assistance, and a starting salary of $45,623.” The New York Post notes that not only was the timed physical fitness requirement waived, but felony convictions could be ignored."

Desperation in the wake of anti-police charges by the liberal progressive left made it more difficult to recruit quality candidates.  Seeking the best turned into seeking anyone that is willing and barely good enough.  The screening process became relaxed.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in 2008 Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis was fired from the police department in Atlanta. During her time there, Davis helmed the Atlanta Police Department’s internal affairs division. Davis was accused by two detectives of telling them not to investigate Terrill Marion “T.C.” Crane.  Crane was the husband of a police sergeant, Tonya Crane, and the police had photos of him with underage girls. Terrill Crane was later indicted by a federal grand jury for producing child pornography. Davis was first demoted from major to lieutenant for her decision and then fired. She was reinstated after challenging the decision through the city’s Civil Service Board. She retired in 2016 and became the chief of police in Durham, N.C. In April 2021, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland selected Davis for her current position and she was confirmed in May.

Was the killing of Tyre Nichols was racially motivated?  Motivation of that kind can be difficult to prove.  Corruption, greed, ambition, abuse of power, and lack of training or standards that could have been realized or corrected during the hiring process knows no racial boundaries.  What we have now are not people seeking to serve their community, but lower standard individuals with a "hall monitor" power trip; equipped with a badge, gun, and baton.  And if their leadership is crooked, then the corruption continues to rise like the scum on top of a pond.

As for the racial component, one thing to keep in mind is that the five officers who beat Nichols were black.

Racially motivated?  Likely not.  Reduction in the quality of personnel and standards in our police forces?  Likely.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary


No comments: