I'm Jonathan K. Part and welcome to K-Part.

The brutal death of a 29-year-old black man, Tyree Nichols, at the hands of Memphis police

officers has renewed questions around police accountability, training, and use of force

policies.

As the Associate Attorney General of the United States, Benita Gupta is the third-ranking

official at the Department of Justice and comes to the table with vast experience with

local law enforcement nationwide.

In this conversation, first recorded for Washington Post Live on February 9th, Gupta

doesn't talk about the specifics of the Nichols case.

But she had no problem talking about how the culture of police departments can blunt the

effectiveness of policy changes meant to make things better.

Law enforcement cannot fight violent crime and can't keep community safe without police

community trust.

So when you and I spoke last year about policing in America, you said that when you joined

DOJ in 2014, it seemed like every week there was a new viral video of an officer involved

shooting or police-related violence.

It's now 2023.

Why are these things still happening?

Look, I think this is the question.

All of us need to be asking ourselves.

But maybe more importantly, every police chief in America needs to be asking him or herself.

And not just asking the question, but having real conversations with their command staff,

...