UNITED STATES: Demetrius Haley, a Memphis police officer, was charged with participating in the brutal assault of an inmate at a county prison years before pulling Tyre Nichols from his car on January 7 and starting a violent encounter.
The 2015 assault on the prisoner was so upsetting that the whole cellblock—34 people—signed a letter to the head of corrections.
The letter said, “We are requesting that this situation be looked into before someone gets really hurt or loses their life because of some unprofessional officers.”
The Shelby County Prison’s warning from many inmates is the most convincing proof yet that one of the five officers involved in the brutal beating of Nichols had a past incident that should have raised red flags before he was employed as a police officer. Three days after the beating, Nichols passed away.
It is unknown if Shelby County reprimanded Haley or cleared her of the assault after a request for information about its investigation into the beating claims was not answered on Friday. A police spokeswoman was questioned regarding the claims when Haley was hired in an email sent on Friday.
Many expelled or resigned police officers can apply for jobs with other agencies because there is no national registry.
There is a national database for police officers who lose their certification, which is equivalent to a professional police officer licence in a given state. Haley’s employment in the county prison didn’t require a police certification, so that wouldn’t have made a difference in his situation.
Along with former officers Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith, the former officer has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the killing of Nichols. In connection with the passing of Nichols, all were fired. And all of them—aside from Bean—have violations in their work histories.
Records indicate that examples of policy violations include:
- failing to report a case of domestic abuse.
- Failing to disclose a minor physical altercation during an arrest.
- failing to complete a form about it.
The inmate, Cordarlrius Sledge, sued him and two other people in federal court in 2016, which is how the past charges against Haley came to light. It claimed that Haley and another cop punched him, and a third claimed to have knocked him to the ground. Sledge’s lawsuit was thrown out on procedural grounds because he didn’t complain to the Memphis jail, which holds convicted prisoners.
Also Read: Memphis City Releases Video of Memphis Police’s Brutality against Tyre Nichols
