DENVER — The video of five Memphis Police officers savagely beating Tyre Nichols for no apparent reason has renewed concerns police officers aren't properly screened before taking the oath.
"Just terrible, like five guys gone wild," said John Nicolleti, a psychologist in Lakewood who has worked with law enforcement agencies in Colorado and across the country.
Among other things, Nicoletti has helped agencies develop psychological tests to determine whether applicants are fit to serve.
"There are certain things on the test we look for -- certain background stuff, do they belong to extremist groups, those types of things. Have they been in a lot of fights, how they interact with people," Nicoletti said. "It's not a foolproof thing. It's one cog in the whole process."
Nicoletti said psychological testing of officer candidates is important, but that it's just as important that departments keep an eye on officers and look for warning signs once they're in the academy and when they hit the street.
"Are supervisors enabling the wrong behavior by being what we call conflict avoidance -- they're seeing things but they don't want to deal with it?" Nicoletti said.
When asked specifically about the Tyre Nichols case, Nicoletti said he had never seen a case of police brutality quite like it during his 40-year career.
"Somewhere along the line, something was missed or they started to change," Nicoletti said. "I mean, something that would cause them to engage in that, either they had to have had something going on before, or that struck a chord with them. That was way off base."
According to Nicoletti, law enforcement agencies nationwide have historically rejected about 20% of the candidates who apply for jobs.
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