Kitsap Review

Like many others across this country over the last few days, I have watched the videos of members of the Memphis Police Department sustained beating of Tyre Nichols which led to his death.  The brutality of it was savage.  The actions by the officers were so far outside the acceptable norms of professional policing that it was appalling.  It was appropriate that the Memphis Police Department, outside criminal investigators, and prosecutors took quick actions by investigating these officers, firing them, and charging them with serious crimes.  The family of Mr. Nichols and the community demand justice and these actions are an important step in that direction.

Watching these videos causes a range of emotions.   I was saddened that a family and a community has suffered such brutality and a needless death at the hands of these police officers.  I was also saddened that in a country that still struggles with racism and bias this incident would only cause further harm and set the efforts so many are making backwards.   I am also saddened that these actions of these few Memphis police officers will negatively reflect on a profession that numbers three quarters of a million individuals in the United States damaging the trust that so many law enforcement agencies and officers have worked so hard to build with their communities.  

This incident also angers me for many of the same reasons.   The actions of the officers seemed so callous and extreme that the death of Mr. Nichols causes anger for any reasonable person and certainly those in my profession. The incident comes at a difficult time as our country deals with important issues such as race relations and the role of law enforcement in our country and the actions of five officers only serves to damage both.  Finally, I am angered that in a profession and world where the police are already under intense scrutiny and are working hard to prove ourselves that these few individuals could potentially damage our collective efforts.

Going forward after something as emotional as this is always difficult.  For many who had distrust in the police this will cause further harm.  For those who want to severely limit the role of police in our society this incident may serve their argument.  For many people, they may question whether these actions of these officers are typical of those across the country and their communities.

I cannot explain why the Memphis police officers did what they did and while I question whether the Memphis Police Department has a faulty culture that would foster this type of behavior, I personally do not know.   For those who want to find the cause of this incident this would be the first place to look, and I would ask the public to consider this before casting blame on our profession and the many dedicated individuals who choose this profession.  

As Sheriff together with all the members of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office we have worked hard over many years to build partnerships with all our communities and build trust.  This is a continuous effort that we will continue to prioritize. We have built a strong culture which promotes community service and professionalism.   We have focused on updating our policies, practices, and training in our agency to meet best practices and community expectations.  We have been focusing on training tactics that encourage de-escalation and alternatives to use of force.   We have specialized members who deal with those in mental health or behavioral crisis, but all our deputies receive training in this area. Due to a historic number of retirements and those leaving our profession, we have hired many people into our agency in the last several years.  They come to us with a heart for the profession and a desire to serve their communities and an understanding of the expectations placed on modern law enforcement.  Additionally, in recent years Washington State has enacted some of the strictest laws in the country regarding police accountability.  These laws have touched on every avenue of our profession including hiring, discipline, training, use of force and data collection. We have incorporated these new requirements into our policies and culture.  

We live in a difficult time.  We are operating in a very difficult political environment marked by hyper-partisanship and sometimes the refusal to listen to each other and dehumanize those who have differing opinions.   We have numerous social and cultural issues in our country.   The problems are large, and the solutions will not come easy and may come at a high cost and certainly require collective effort.  As law enforcement we operate in a controversial profession. We have many and differing community expectations. The nature of policing has changed in our country and will continue to change. We are impacted by large social problems such as untreated mental illness, addiction, and unsheltered homelessness.  We agree that these should not be issues left to the police to fix, but we need additional community resources to help respond to these problems as often we are the only option.   After decades of crime rates lowering across the country, we are now facing rising crimes rates including the increase in violent crime.  Our communities expect us to respond to crime and public safety concerns and want us to have the proper tools to do our jobs. With historic staffing issues in our profession, we are finding it difficult to address these increasing crime rates and meeting our communities’ expectations.   Citizens do expect us to be accountable, transparent, and to work with our communities to come up with solutions that are appropriate and just.  We recognize that some solutions will include using non police resources.  We will continue to strive to meet our communities’ expectations.

Speaking for all the members of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office we appreciate our citizens and consider it a privilege to serve our community.  Our thoughts go out to Tyre Nichols family and the Memphis community. From our profession they deserved better.  It is up to all of us to continue to live up to the ethical and moral responsibility that we are entrusted with.  

Sheriff John Gese

Original source can be found here