Columbus Police Chief talks about ways to guide his officers, family

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – People in Law Enforcement are now commenting on the Tyre Nichols incident in Memphis Tennessee.

Columbus Police Chief Joseph Daughtry said that tragedy has started a conversation about how his officers should interact with the public.

The death of Tyre Nichols after a violent encounter with Memphis Police is a topic of conversation everywhere, including area police departments.

“It’s sad that it’s 31 years later after the Rodney King beating and we still have to have this conversation,” said Daughtry.

That conversation that Daughtry found himself continuously having is about the problems of police brutality.

After the death of Tyre Nichols, Daughtry said he plans to talk to his officers and go back over dealing with the community and even teach them lessons he himself was taught years ago.

“We are going to have to educate our officers on how to react when interacting with the police and also how to react when some kind of contact resolution and de-escalation skills because what I saw was officers who lost control and I grew up old school police when someone lost control an old head would step in and tell you to go get your butt in the car and let them cool off and they would take the situation over,” said Daughtry.

As Daughtry continued to have this conversation as Chief, he also found himself continuing the conversation at home as a father and even with himself.

“Even me being the Chief of Police in Columbus they don’t know who I am so I can run through that same situation but my kids have been trained since they were children how to interact with the police because they grew up with the police. My daughter knows how to act and what to say and my sons know how to respond when they are pulled over. Those are conversations that you have to have when with your children,” said Daughtry.

After so many incidents like this over the years, officers, like Columbus Police Investigator Darnell Madison, found themselves having to prove themselves to the public.

“What I’ve learned about the community here is a lot of time because of the history that law enforcement has in this country and even in this community is that the respect level isn’t always there and in this community, they respect the person more than they respect the badge,” said Madison.

And with a badge on or off at the end of the day, it’s all about who you are as a person.

“We have to love on them in order for them to start being able to see a different avenue and us in a different light because if we don’t the only time they see us is when we are arresting somebody or when something bad happens then their perspective of law force is always going to be negative,” said Madison.

Madison is the founder of the “I am” mentorship and is actively working to show teenagers and young adults that there are still good people in the world that want to cheer them on and not harm them.

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