WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) — Wichita pastor Kevass Harding, a community leader and former Wichita Police Department officer, said it was hard to think about the footage from Memphis showing five police officers beating Tire Nichols to death. What stands out to him, he said, is what appeared to be a complete lack of training among the officers involved. As a former officer, Rev. Harding said he could not understand why the arrest appeared so chaotic and violent.
“My initial reaction when I saw the video was, ‘horrible,'” Harding said.
He also said the communities are seeing something else from this case.
“I have seen since [Memphis] Signs of police chief reform from the shape of the George Floyd incident in Minnesota, to have the chief and the district attorney meet and say they were fired and arrested and will be indicted,” Harding said.
With reform underway, Harding, chief pastor of Dellrose United Methodist Church, said he wants to commend all the officers out there who he considers to be great, but stresses that with work to do, the bad ones need to be identified.
“When I say ‘reform’, I’m not saying fund the police. You tell me a community that says they don’t need the police, they aren’t honest with themselves,” Harding said.
