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'Awful': MPD slammed as cops charged in Tyre Nichols death hired after department relaxed job requirement

In 2022, Memphis Police Department reduced the requirements, with respect to timed physical ability tests, and cut down college education requirements

MEMPHIS, TENNESSE: Two policemen out of the five officers who were fired after Tyre Nichols's death were recruited after the department relaxed its hiring requirements. Tadarrius Bean and Demetrius Haley both joined the Memphis Police Department (MPD) in August 2020. 

According to New York Post, recruits no longer require an associate’s degree or 54 college credit hours to join the police force, however, it can be compensated by five years of work experience. “They’re desperate. They want police officers. They’re going through it, they check off some boxes, saying, ‘Ok, they’re good enough, get them on," said, Mike Alcazar, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired NYPD detective. 

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What qualifications have been reduced in hiring process?

Meanwhile, in 2022, the department reduced the requirements yet again, with respect to timed physical ability tests, and cut college education requirements from 54 credit hours to just 24 credit hours. Alcazar said, “Police departments have to take the screening process of candidates to be police officers seriously and not rush to hire officers that might not be qualified."

 

According to Action News, the police department offers a $15,000 sign-on bonus, $10,000 in relocation assistance, and a starting salary of $45,623 for the recruits. “They are several hundred officers short in the Memphis Police Department. I believe that certain times the state has the prerogative [to intervene], especially when it comes to public safety," State Representative John Gillespie stated.

It also introduced a new rule that a recruit can have 5 years of full-time responsible, verifiable work experience and a high school diploma. If a recruit is hired under that qualification, he/she must obtain an associate degree within four years of employment, as per Action News.

Further, a LinkedIn post by Chief of Police Karan Parmar is also gaining attention in this regard. The post reads, "According to a source within the Memphis PD, the 5 charged officers weren’t hired through the usual structured PD hiring process. City leaders felt the existing process was too strict and kept certain people from getting jobs at the department. City leaders began their own hiring process and then pushed new hires into the agency, bypassing the testing procedures in place at the department. You can read between the lines what that all means."

It further added, "All 5 of the charged officers were hired by the City, and didn’t go through the rigorous PD testing process. This is what quota hiring looks like. Lawsuits and dead innocents. The city should pay the lawsuits instead of the Police department. This Murder wasn’t created by old school policing or by “white supremacy”. This murder was directly facilitated by liberal policy." 

'Hiring some clowns?'

The Internet quickly reacted to this update. A user said, "Sounds like a different kind of systemic problem...." "Soft bigotry of low expectation," wrote another. "Unfund the cops, they said. Social Workers, they said," claimed a user.

A tweet read, "It’s all going as planned." Another added, "The taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for this, everyone who had a hand in this should pay." "These men were put in an awful position as well. Untrained and unprepared. So many loved destroyed but DEI!" said a user.

Another individual tweeted, "And there you have it !! These five should be in jail and whoever hired them should be in jail too !!" A tweet read, "Hiring some clowns? Expect a circus." "The truth always comes out," wrote a user. 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.