MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Now that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted on all three counts for the death of George Floyd, will the case impact how police excessive force cases here in the Mid-South? Could prosecutors be more likely to press charges against police officers? Will officers change how they behave on the streets? It is a nice idea, but experts say it will most likely take police reform laws at the state and federal level for there to be a significant change.
"The nation was on pins and needles to see if a man caught on video murdering somebody caught on video over the course of 9.5 minutes was actually going to be convicted of the crime we saw transpire," said Charles McKinney, Rhodes College professor.
Like so many others, Charles McKinney is relieved Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all charges but, at the same time, the Rhodes College Chair of Africana Studies believes many people don't understand what it took to get to this point.
"There's a whole bunch of people running around saying 'see the system worked' but the system needed a whole bunch of help in order for it to work," said McKinney. "Derek Chauvin got convicted not because the system worked. He got convicted because we had a national movement, organizers organized around the country to draw attention and pressure and the light of day to add pressure on this case."
McKinney questions if the Chauvin verdict will have an impact on what happens here in Memphis because he believes holding police accountable for bad behavior is not a priority in the Mid-South.
"I am not of the opinion that we have a District Attorney that is deeply invested in Black life," said McKinney.
McKinney says ideally officers will think twice before acting but believes it will take police reform at the state of federal level for it to happen.
"The notion that in the wake of this trail is that everyone is just going to act better right? I think that's ridiculous. That's not how this works. People act better when they are forced to do so," said McKinney.