(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Recent reports revealed that several of the police officers involved in the Tyre Nichols murder were hired by the Memphis Police Department after they lowered their hiring standards due to declining application rates.
All five of the officers—Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emit Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith—joined the Memphis police force for a few years before the beating took place; however, at least two of the officers, Bean and Haley, came into the department after they lowered their education standards.
According to the Post Millennial, MPD only hired applicants with an associates degree or 54 college credit hours until August 2020. Then, due to declining application rates in the wake of the Black Lives Matter riots, they lowered the prerequisite to only five years of work experience.
In the following years, MPD also implemented a $15,000 signing bonus and disposed of the timed physical ability test. The force also offered jobs to ex-felons.
Cerelyn “CJ” Davis was hired as Chief of Memphis PD in 2021, despite being suspected of and fired for the covering up of child sex crimes in a botched investigation as a detective in Atlanta.
Davis was fired by the Atlanta Police Department after attempts to cover up pedophilic sex crimes committed by the husband of a co-worker. Two detectives claimed Davis instructed them not to investigate a suspected child predator after the police uncovered explicit photos of him with minor girls.
Terrill Marion “TC” Crane, who committed the acts, pleaded guilty to the production of child pornography in 2009.
Due to the inaction of the Atlanta police department, the case required a federal indictment that discovered Davis to be at fault.
Then-Chief Richard Pennington fired Davis. Atlanta’s Civil Service Board quickly reinstated her; she worked in Atlanta for a few more years.
She then became the chief of the department Durham, North Carolina, in 2016, then went to Memphis PD to become the first female police chief in 2021—after the department lowered its standards due to hiring struggles.
Five officers under her watch are facing charges for second degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of official misconduct.
Davis has done everything in her power to distance herself from the attackers, including appearing on Don Lemon’s show on CNN to discuss the instance before the release of the footage.
She described the video as showing “acts that defy humanity” and a “disregard for life.”
