UpFront

Can the United States fix its policing problem?

In the wake of Tyre Nichols’ killing at the hands of police, UpFront takes a look at policing in the US.

In May 2020, the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis triggered protests across the United States, in what many hoped would be a turning point in the fight against police brutality.

Three years later, Americans find themselves reckoning with the killing of yet another unarmed Black man at the hands of police.

On January 7, police dragged 29-year-old Tyre Nichols out of his car, Tased and beat him for three whole minutes during what was supposed to be a routine traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee. He died of his injuries three days later.

So, can anything be done about the way Black and Brown people are policed in the US?

On UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill puts that question to Corey Pegues, a retired police officer and author of Once A Cop, and Alex Vitale, a professor and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College.