Last month five former Memphis officers accused of beating Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black motorist, were charged with second-degree murder. On Wednesday, two sheriff deputies who responded to that scene were suspended.
The fallout from the case and countless others highlight the issue of police brutality.
"Officers oftentimes see themselves as authorities who have power over civilians and whose orders need to be obeyed," said Tage Rai, a psychologist and assistant professor at UC San Diego's Rady School of Management. "And in that kind of hierarchical system, disobedience, disrespect or any sort of threat of harm to the officer is the worst violation, and even worse than the actual crimes that they're supposed to be policing."
Rai joined Midday Edition Thursday to talk about how race plays a role in police violence and to highlight strategies to prevent it.
