Delray Beach police chief discusses policing following Tyre Nichols case
DELRAY BEACH — Six months ago, when Delray Beach Police Chief Russ Mager started, communication was at the forefront of his mission. That proved true last Thursday when he met with residents to discuss policing following the killing of Tyre Nichols.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black motorist, was aggressively beaten by five former Memphis police officers during what started as a traffic stop. Three days after that, he died in a hospital. The officers have since been charged with murder.
“People all over the globe are concerned,” said C. Ron Allen, who helped to organize the event. “They’ve been outraged by what transpired in Memphis, but they’re also more concerned about what’s being done to prevent something like this in their communities.”
About a month after the incident, dozens of Delray Beach residents gathered at Mount Olive Baptist Church for an open conversation with Mager about how the Delray Beach Police Department operates. These were some concerns voiced by the crowd.
What types of force are used by the agency?
There are four different types of force used by Delray Beach police. Their use depends on the situation. They are as follows:
No force is used when the mere presence of an officer is enough to deter a crime or diffuse the situation.
Ordinary force is used when a person resists an officer’s commands. It could cause discomfort, such as in cases requiring pepper spray or a Taser, but it’s not designed to inflict injury. It’s meant to get the officer back in control.
Moderate force is used when a person resists arrest. “It is not technically designed to create serious injury or death,” Mager said. It’s to be used if a person is avoiding a qualified arrest.
Deadly force is used only when an officer has reason to believe the person being dealt with poses a serious threat to the officer or others.
“Any kind of force that we use is documented,” Mager said.
What is the policy on body cameras?
Body cameras are supposed to be turned on by Delray Beach officers during every police service call. Technically speaking, they could be turned off manually, but that would be a violation of protocol and would result in a report to the department’s internal affairs team.
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Every officer that works the road is equipped with a body camera. The videos are all accessible afterward for a period of time correlating with the offense at hand. A video of an arrest, for example, would be available for more time than that of a routine traffic stop.
Is anything being done to eliminate 'bad' police?
For Mager, it all starts with training. The application process itself takes three months.
“That says a lot as to who we’re hiring, who we’re getting,” he said. “There’s background checks, there’s psychologicals, there's polygraphs. We spend a lot of money. It's an investment we're making into people that are going to be wearing a uniform that has the potential to take people's rights away.”
After the application process, six months are spent at the police academy and another five months are spent in field training. In Mager’s eyes, the 14-15 month process also serves to vet these officers. But immediate corrective action is taken toward any officer acting unprofessionally, he said.
Is the diversity of Delray Beach represented in the department?
Yes, Mager said, but there could be more.
“I’m always in favor of having a very diverse agency that does reflect the community,” he said. “We try to recruit and hope that we can get people that are from different ethnicities and different races to validate and make people feel comfortable when they see their own type.”
But it’s not always that easy. The hiring process is based on quality and whether applicants can perform the role of being police officers, so diversity of the department falls back on the applicant pool. Still, Mager agreed that there’s importance in having an agency that reflects the community.
Are there any calls that would be better answered by mental health professionals instead of police?
Mager believes his officers are now equipped with training to deal with calls involving people who are mentally ill. He also said his department has about 20 people who’ve gone to school to learn how to de-escalate these situations.
“We may have to arrest them, but we want to make every step before we get to that point to make sure we’re doing it the way that needs to be done,” he said.
Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on Twitter at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tyre Nichols case: In Delray Beach, police chief listens to concerns
