BLM IS WORKING:

Across the country, even as fatal police encounters have continued apace, many cities have revisited how they investigate and talk about those cases, reflecting the reality that cameras are everywhere and that episode after episode of police violence, often involving Black people, has led to distrust of official accounts. Charging decisions that once took months or longer now sometimes happen within days or weeks. City leaders more freely call out police misbehavior when they see it. Body camera footage is more routinely made public, whether it exonerates the officers or raises questions.

"I think we are seeing a whole new world," said Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. While the default not long ago was to keep video private, he said, "I think people are understanding slowly but surely -- particularly police chiefs -- that this is not the sort of thing that can stay secret."

In Memphis, the release of videos came after grief-stricken statements from Nichols' family, who had pushed for them to be made public. The family also commissioned an independent autopsy and shared a photo of Nichols in the hospital, his face swollen and bruised.

Ben Crump, a lawyer representing Nichols' family, praised the swift timeline but suggested that race may have played a role. The five accused police officers are Black. "We want to proclaim that this is the blueprint going forward for any time any officers, whether they be Black or white, will be held accountable," Crump said. "No longer can you tell us we got to wait six months to a year."

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