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Honolulu police are remaining vigilant of public unrest in the wake of the release of brutal body worn camera footage out of Memphis showing the fatal beating of a 29-year-old Black man following a traffic stop for alleged reckless driving.
“The department is monitoring what is happening in other cities, and we have asked commanders and staff to remain vigilant following the release of the Memphis video,” Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a statement.
Logan called the actions by the Memphis police officers, who took an oath to protect life, “disturbing and difficult to watch.”
“While the five officers will have their day in court, what transpired in the video casts a shadow over law enforcement across the country,” said Logan. “The Honolulu Police Department does not condone excessive use of force and takes all reports of officer misconduct seriously. Every allegation is investigated, and our officers are held accountable for their actions. We are committed to earning and retaining the community’s trust in HPD.”
The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers joined the Los Angeles Police Protective League, San Francisco Police Officers Association and the San Jose Police Officers’ Association to condemn the “horrific killing.”
The unions renewed their pledge to work with the federal lawmakers to “enact national policing standards that mirror the standards in place in Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, and Hawaii” and require rigorous ongoing training on the duty to intervene, duty to render aid, de-escalation, use of force and other initiatives.
That ongoing training “will improve outcomes between law enforcement professionals and the communities we serve,” the statement read.
Memphis police released more than an hour of footage today showing the beating of Tyre Nichols in which officers held the 29-year-old Black motorist down and struck him repeatedly as he screamed for his mother.
The footage came out a day after the officers were charged with murder in Nichols’ death. It shows police savagely beating the FedEx worker for three minutes, deploying a Taser on him, punching, kicking, and hitting him with a metal baton.
The Associated Press Contributed to this report.
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