Protesters gathered in Milwaukee over the weekend to condemn police brutality following the release of video showing the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis Police officers.
Unlike the scenes of looting, violence and whole city blocks in flame that accompanied the anti-police protests during the long, hot summer of 2020, the demonstrations in Milwaukee and elsewhere were mostly peaceful.
But law enforcement officials like Andrew Wagner can be forgiven for wondering — and worrying — about what’s to come.
“Our concern is that we make sure this doesn’t turn into another George Floyd situation,” Wagner, president of the Milwaukee Police Association, said, referring to the 46-year-old black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd’s death set off a wave of anti-law enforcement protests that repeatedly turned destructive, including days of deadly riots that destroyed portions of Uptown and Downtown districts of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
While Wagner agrees Nichols’ death is a tragedy, he hopes cooler heads prevail in the pursuit of justice. The Milwaukee Police Department, he said, is still reeling from the “defund the police” movement and the continued vilification of law enforcement.
“We have tragedy here in Milwaukee, too,” the MPA president said of the record 200-plus homicides committed in Wisconsin’s largest city last year. “But the only time we see a press release from Gov. Tony Evers is when police are accused of doing something wrong.”
Earlier this month, Atlanta was rocked by rioters who damaged businesses and government and police property following the death of 26-year-old environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Teran. He was shot and killed by the Georgia State Patrol after authorities said Teran shot and wounded a state trooper who was trying to clear protesters from the construction site of a new public safety training center dubbed by activists as “Cop City,” Fox News reported.
Some of those arrested were found with explosives.
In Memphis, Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, died from injuries following a traffic stop earlier this month in Memphis. The Memphis PD video released last week shows Nichols being brutally beaten by five black police officers, part of the controversial and now-disbanded Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods (SCORPION) Unit.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith were fired on Jan. 20 after an administrative investigation found they had violated department policy on the use of force. The officers have been charged with one count each of second-degree murder, a count of aggravated assault-acting in concert, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct and one of count of official oppression.
Officer Preston Hemphill, who is white, also was relieved of duty. Hemphill used his stun gun during the traffic stop, but was not at the scene of the beating, according to the police department. He is, however, heard in his body camera video saying, “I hope they stomp his ass.”
While Nichols horrifying death raises old questions about police brutality, law enforcement officers fear the broad brush anew of anti-police sentiment hitting budgets and morale. Social justice organizations already have billed the Memphis case as the latest example of what they insist is the systemic racism and white supremacy found in police departments across the country — even though the five officers charged with killing Nichols are black.
Wagner said retention and recruitment continue to suffer in the Milwaukee PD. He said some 40 officers resigned last year, significantly higher than a typical year. There’s a lot of burnout as the police department’s ranks have dropped from around 1,850 sworn officers to less than 1,600 in the past couple of years, Wagner said.
“We’re seeing resignations more than we’ve ever seen in 25 years,” the police union chief said. “Either they’re going to suburban departments where they have support or they’re finding new careers in general.”
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday the defund the police movement has not only cut law enforcement budgets, it has depleted officer candidate ranks of “good people.”
“We’re not getting enough good people applying because of the disparagement on police officers. They don’t get enough people applying, taking the test to enter the academy to be an officer because there’s been this defund the police concept out there,” he said. “There’s been this attack on law enforcement, and you’re not getting the best of the best,” he added.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Police” by Rosemary Ketchum.
