In 2016, Sean Grayson was discharged from the Army for a “serious offense.” That same year, he earned his second DUI conviction. In the four years since 2020, Grayson rotated through six different police agencies. His tenure with them wasn’t lacking in complaints or disciplinary action. And in July 2024, he murdered Sonya Massey.
A recent Intercept investigation found that most officers in high-profile killings since 2014 have kept their licenses. In theory, decertification is a bare minimum consequence for murder. But it’s underutilized - especially when states require a conviction to initiate the process, and 99% of officers evade conviction.
Derek Chauvin violently kneeled on and choked other people before killing George Floyd. After killing Breonna Taylor, Miles Cosgrove got a new police job in 2023. Tamir Rice’s killer, Timothy Loehmann, resigned from his third police job in six years earlier this year.
This applies to cops accused of sexual violence, too. Alabama officer Christopher Bauer was arrested for raping an 11-year-old girl in 2021 - but he’d been fired by the FBI after raping a co-worker years earlier.
The criminal legal system legitimizes the role of police in society as figures of authority above civilians. That’s why they’re able to job-hop or avoid resignations despite laundry lists of indiscretions - including murder. Cops routinely get second chances that their victims don’t. But that doesn’t mean cops deserve them.