SWAMPSCOTT — The video showing the murder of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police officers was released to the public over the weekend. In the wake of the video, police departments across the country put out statements condemning the actions of those officers, including the Swampscott Police Department.
A statement posted on Facebook Jan. 28 from the entire department said “The biggest honor of being a police officer is to protect and prevent violence against those we are sworn to protect. Those five officers failed in their sworn duty, and we send out prayers to the family of Tyre Nichols.”
In an interview, Police Chief Ruben Quesada said it was a “disgusting display of humanity at its worst.”
“Even though it’s something that did not happen here it’s something as a law enforcement officer and officers throughout the nation that we all must answer for and I am sad and disappointed to say the least that something like this occurred,” Quesada said.
After news of the incident in Tennessee broke, he had a conversation with his department.
“We talked about our badge, our badge is a symbol of the public faith that’s been entrusted in us,” Quesada said. “I challenged my department to be part of the change that policing needs and what our community deserves.”
A community activist Aaron Berdofe, who helped start the Racial Justice Action Group in town after the murder of George Floyd, had mixed feelings toward the statement released from the department.
“I’m of the mindset that most of our issues with police in America is result of the system of policing, not necessarily bad apples, and when the police department released a statement that says it’s such a tragedy that those bad apples over there and that other police department acted the way they did … on one hand I’m grateful that they’re doing that but at the same time how are you showing what you’re doing within your department is actually different than what they’re doing in Memphis?” Berdofe said.
He wished they had included things about how the department doesn’t have “scorpion units” and the officers are trained differently than those in Memphis.
Through the Racial Justice Action Group, they were able to interact a lot with the police department to get information the department has put out about racial disparities.
“The way they do it, it doesn’t actually reflect the experience of a black person in Swampscott, the way they’re running their numbers, they’re like, ‘see, there’s only like, a percent difference between white people and black people and how many we pull over’ and it’s like, well, you know, if we think about it, from the perspective of a black person, a black person is actually twice as likely to be pulled over and then a white person in Swampscott and how does that make a black person feel?” Berdofe said.
Tamy-Fee Meneide, another activist in town and a previous diversity consultant to the town, echoed Berdofe’s sentiments about the “bad apples” versus the system as a whole. She said she wants to see the department be “transparent” about their training and to “recognize” the history of policing and how it is rooted in slavery and unlearn those ways.
“American system of policing due to its anti-Black origins of slave patrolling (aka policing Black bodies) is baring the fruit it intended to. It’s not bad apples it’s a rotten tree that needs to be excavated from its roots. This needs to be recognized and repaired– not just for the Black community– but for every single human being on this American soil,” Meneide wrote in a statement to The Item.
In terms of training, the Swampscott Police Department has “continual” de-escalation training for its officers so they can respond “accordingly,” Quesada said.
“It’s so important to not only train but to select the right individuals with the quality and characteristics and integrity that the community deserves,” Quesada said. “It’s a call to ensure that we are always working towards police reform and the evolution of policing.”
Other police departments in the area have also released statements condemning the actions of the Memphis police officers against Tyre Nichols.
“This type of behavior has no place in policing. No one should ever be subjected to treatment Mr. Nichols was forced to endure,” the statement from Peabody Police Chief Tom Griffin said.
“The Lynn Police Department sends our sincerest condolences to the family of Tyre Nichols. We share in the sorrow and outrage that people across this nation are experiencing over the senseless loss of his young life,” Lynn Police Chief Christopher Reddy said in a statement. “The brutality of their crimes are a betrayal of the public trust. Their actions are an affront to our law enforcement mission to serve the public with integrity, fairness, and respect.”
“We stand proudly with our community leaders to guarantee MPD Officers are trained in the applications of force, the duty to intervene, the duty to render care, and the sanctity of human life, which is at the core of this tragedy,” Marblehead Police Department said.
