Tonight, I watched in horror as Memphis Police Officers brutally beat and killed a man. I posted on Facebook how ashamed and sickened by those in my profession. The first comment was that there are bad people in every profession and these officers do not represent our profession. No, these officers do not represent the “ideal” of what we want in our profession but these officers were not created in a vacuum. This is a systemic problem and is very evident in the video where many officers arrive on scene and no one bothers to check on an incredibly beaten and injured victim. Meanwhile, the involved officers brag about how they engaged in this attack and justified their actions, making sure their reports would match.

We, as a profession, are responsible for this death, this is not just a few bad apples problem. For far too long we have given officers the benefit of the doubt, excused excessive force as being human and condoned stretching the truth to justify level of force used. People are asking how do we reform behavior like this. The simple and horrid truth is we cannot reform behavior once it reaches this level.

Reform must start so that officers truly understand that no amount of excessive force will be condoned or justified. No more giving an officer “the benefit of the doubt.” Questionable and “grey area” force must be treated the same as clearly excessive force.

Our profession must apply the Broken Windows theory of criminology to ourselves. The theory holds that we must address the small issues so the community does not feel emboldened to engage in greater and more serious crime. If we truly want reform then we must adopt a “zero tolerance” of any questionable force. No more benefit of the doubt, if you put a toe over the line you must be held accountable. If body camera footage does not support the officers report of events, they must be held accountable.

The Memphis officers killed Tyre Nichols because the systemic view of force emboldened them to think they could commit this heinous assault without worry of recourse. Tonight I am ashamed of myself and my profession.